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 P

perforce

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

An adverb meaning “by necessity” or “inevitably,” used to indicate that something must happen because no alternative exists. In poetry it often conveys a sense of unavoidable fate or compelled action.

Detailed Definition
“Perforce” is an adverb derived from Middle English per force, itself from Anglo-French and Latin roots meaning “through force” or “by necessity.” Historically it signified that an action occurred because circumstances left no other choice. In literary and poetic contexts, the word carries a tone of inevitability, resignation, or destiny, suggesting that events unfold according to forces beyond personal control. Poets have used “perforce” to emphasise the constraints imposed by fate, love, duty, or natural law, allowing a line to express reluctant acceptance or compelled movement. Its slightly archaic sound also contributes to a formal, elevated rhythm in verse, making it particularly effective in traditional poetic diction and narrative poetry.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The tide had turned, and we must perforce depart before the storm should break”; “She followed him perforce, though sorrow weighed upon her heart”; “The weary traveller rested beneath the oak, for night had fallen and he must perforce wait for dawn”; “Love’s decree was spoken, and I must perforce obey, though reason urged retreat”; “The fading light compelled the shepherd perforce to guide his flock homeward across the silent hill”; “Thus bound by honour’s chain, the knight rode on perforce into the darkening field”
Additional Notes
The adverb “perforce” derives from the Middle English phrase per force, meaning “through force” or “by necessity,” and ultimately from Old French and Latin roots. In historical and poetic writing it signals that an action occurs because circumstances leave no alternative. Poets often employ “perforce” to suggest inevitability, resignation, or submission to fate, destiny, love, or duty. Because it carries a formal and slightly archaic tone, it frequently appears in narrative poetry, translations of older texts, and verse imitating medieval or Renaissance diction. In metre, the word is useful because its two syllables (PER-force) fit comfortably into iambic or trochaic rhythms. Students may compare it with related expressions such as “of necessity,” “inevitably,” or “must needs,” another archaic phrase used in similar contexts. Understanding “perforce” helps readers recognise how poets convey constraint, compulsion, and the tension between personal desire and unavoidable circumstance.
Also Known As
By Necessity Of Necessity Necessarily Inevitably By Force Must Needs
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