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 R

Roman Saturnalia

Historical Festival
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

Ancient Roman festival in December honoring Saturn, with feasting, role reversals, and gift-giving

Detailed Definition
Saturnalia was a Roman festival held in December to honor the god Saturn, characterized by banquets, gift-giving, and the inversion of social norms—such as masters serving slaves. Though rooted in religious observance, it evolved into a period of merriment and license that influenced later winter celebrations, including Christmas. In poetry, Saturnalia appears as a symbol of fleeting freedom, utopian reversal, or the cyclical nature of time and renewal. Poets like Horace and later Romantic writers referenced it to contrast societal constraints with idealized moments of equality and joy.
Example
Example in poetry:
Seneca and Macrobius describe Saturnalia with role reversals and gift-giving; Poets use Roman Saturnalia to explore temporary equality, joy, and social critique; In modern verse, Saturnalia symbolizes generosity and golden age longing; The festival appears in December poetry as winter’s light; Poets contrast Saturnalia’s freedom with imperial control; Christmas poets reference Saturnalia as festive ancestor.
Additional Notes
Roman Saturnalia (December 17–23) honored Saturn with role reversals, gift-giving, and feasting; recalled the Golden Age; in poetry, it symbolizes liberation, social critique, and festive inversion—central to Horace and Seneca; ideal for carnivalesque, satirical, or utopian verse exploring temporary equality and the subversion of hierarchy.
Also Known As
Saturnalia
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