A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter M

Madness

Psychology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A state of severe mental disorder characterized by irrationality, chaotic thoughts, or a break from reality; can manifest as intense emotional upheaval or a complete loss of coherence in thought and action.

Explore this topic in depth (1)

Gothic Poetry — Gothic poetry turns shadows, ruins, storms and supernatural suggestion into ways of exploring human fear, longing, guilt and uncertainty. More than a collection of frightening images, it is a flexible tradition concerned with what reason cannot comfortably explain.

Detailed Definition
Madness in poetry offers a vantage of truth, as in Lear's storm or Plath's bell jar. Poets use fractured syntax, hallucinatory imagery, and non-linear logic to depict altered states. Madness critiques social norms, reveals hidden pain, or accesses the sublime. It can be tragic or prophetic, inviting readers into subjective worlds where reason dissolves, yet meaning persists. Madness tests the boundaries of language and identity, making it a powerful poetic device.
Example
Example in poetry:
Madness in Sylvia Plath's confessional poetry where madness is a central theme; In Gerard Manley Hopkins' "No worst, there is none," madness is explored; In Shakespeare's "King Lear," madness reveals truth; In "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," madness is a threat; In contemporary poetry, madness is often reclaimed as a form of insight; In "The Raven" by Poe, madness is a Gothic trope.
Additional Notes
Madness in poetry offers a vantage of truth, as in Lear's storm or Plath's bell jar, through fractured syntax, hallucinatory imagery, and non-linear logic. In teaching, distinguish madness from hysteria: madness is severe mental derangement, while hysteria is excessive emotion. Madness critiques social norms, reveals hidden pain, or accesses the sublime. Poets use it to explore altered states, challenging boundaries of language and identity. Students should examine how poets use fragmented form, surreal imagery, and unreliable narration to convey madness's disorienting yet revelatory power.
Also Known As
Insanity craziness derangement psychopathy mania buile Lunacy madnesse
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