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 O

Overlong classical line

Meter
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 classical verse line extended beyond standard metrical limits, typically through added syllables or feet for dramatic effect.

Detailed Definition
An overlong classical line refers to a metrical line in traditional poetry, often based on Greek or Latin models, that exceeds the standard number of syllables or metrical feet for its form, creating an expansive and sometimes ceremonious effect. This technique can be used to convey grandeur, emphasize a thematic climax, or deliberately disrupt formal expectations for stylistic impact. For example, in epic verse, an overlong hexameter may add weight to a description of battle or ceremony, expanding the reader’s attention span and pacing.
Example
Example in poetry:
Overlong classical line appears in Longfellow’s “Evangeline,” using dactylic hexameter stretched to 15+ syllables per line; In Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Aurora Leigh,” hexameter lines exceed classical norms for expressive range; In Derek Walcott’s “Omeros,” Homeric lines expand to accommodate Caribbean landscape; In A.E. Stallings’ “Sestina: Like,” classical forms are extended for contemporary irony; In Ezra Pound’s “Cantos,” hexameter fragments stretch into modernist epic.
Additional Notes
Overlong classical line extends beyond standard hexameter or pentameter length. Related to overlong five-foot iambic. Often appears in translations or mock-heroic verse—scan for caesurae that manage its unwieldy momentum.
Also Known As
Hypermetric line Overlong hexameter Extended dactylic line Hexameter hypercatalectic
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