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

matron

Archaic Terms
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

In archaic poetic usage, a "matron" refers to a dignified, mature married woman, especially one who is a mother, embodying respectability, authority, and domestic virtue.

Detailed Definition
The term "matron" evokes an older, established woman of high moral standing and social respect, typically past the bloom of youth but still in a position of quiet authority within the household or community. In poetry, it often contrasts youthful passion or innocence with seasoned wisdom, responsibility, and sometimes melancholy or sternness. It carries connotations of motherhood, propriety, and the weight of experience, frequently used to add gravitas or classical dignity to female characters. This archaic term fell out of everyday speech but persists in formal or elevated verse to signal a specific cultural ideal of feminine maturity.
Example
Example in poetry:
From John Milton’s Paradise Lost (Book IX): "Yet oft his heart, divine of something ill, Misgave him; he the falt'ring measure felt; And forth with footsteps firm and matron grace She issued..." Here, the word lends Eve a stately, responsible aura as she moves with purposeful maturity. Another common illustrative use: "The matron, gray with wisdom’s crown, / Watched o’er her children with eyes cast down."
Additional Notes
Etymology: From Latin mater (mother), entering English via Old French matrone in the late 14th century, originally denoting a married woman of respectable status. Historical context: Common in 16th–19th century English poetry and neoclassical verse, where it reinforced ideals of Roman matrona—virtuous wives and mothers central to family and society. Related terms: Contrasts with "maiden" (youthful innocence) or "crone" (elderly, sometimes witch-like); similar to "dowager" or "dame." Usage tips: Best employed in formal, elevated, or historical poems. Avoid in modern free verse unless creating deliberate archaic tone, as it can sound stilted or unintentionally humorous today. Category note: As an Archaic Term, it belongs with words like "wight," "ere," "yon," and "damsel" that poets revive for rhythmic, tonal, or atmospheric effect.
Also Known As
dame
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