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.

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

Punch above one's weight

Idiomatic Phrase
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

To perform or compete at a level exceeding one's apparent capacity; boxing metaphor describing fighters competing successfully against heavier opponents, suggesting unexpected capability.

Detailed Definition
Punch above one's weight means to perform, influence, or compete at a level beyond what size, status, resources, or expectations would suggest. In poetry, the idiom can describe small nations, minor poets, underdogs, lovers, communities, or individuals who exceed their apparent limits. Its boxing origin frames achievement as contest against stronger opponents. A poet may use it admiringly for courage and disproportionate impact, or ironically when ambition overreaches. It is useful for themes of power, scale, and unlikely excellence.
Example
Example in poetry:
A sports poem might praise the small boxer who punches above his weight beneath the hot lights; In literary verse, a short lyric can punch above its weight by carrying vast emotion; The phrase means to achieve more influence or success than expected for one's size or resources; A poet can use it admiringly.
Additional Notes
Punch above one’s weight means compete or achieve beyond one’s apparent size, status, resources, or rank, from boxing weight classes. In poetry, it can praise small nations, modest artists, underdogs, children, or marginal voices who exert disproportionate influence. Students should notice the sporting violence beneath the compliment. The phrase asks how power is measured: by size, wealth, position, skill, courage, or imaginative force.
Also Known As
exceed expectations
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