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 S

Saint Vitus

Saints
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

Early martyr, patron against epilepsy, chorea ("St. Vitus' dance"), and for dancers.

Detailed Definition
Saint Vitus, a 4th-century martyr invoked against epilepsy, chorea (Saint Vitus's dance), and various ailments, inspires rhythmic and healing movement poetry that celebrates physical vitality, protection through faith, the body's sacred expression, and divine intervention in human frailty. His cult encourages verses exploring dance as prayer, recovery from illness, youthful courage in persecution, and communal rituals of supplication, providing vibrant imagery for works addressing health, joy in motion, and the miraculous within everyday struggles.
Example
Example in poetry:
Lord Alfred Douglas's "The Ballad of Saint Vitus" narrates the youthful saint tripping through meadows, using his legend to evoke lithe innocence and green vitality.; George Walter Thornbury's "The Legend of St Vitus" depicts an anchorite in Cairo, blending exotic hagiography with themes of ascetic withdrawal.; Poets invoke Saint Vitus as patron against epilepsy and "St. Vitus' dance" in rhythmic verses exploring healing movement and chorea.; In cathedral poetry like Isabel Scheltens' "Of St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague," the saint's dedication inspires architectural meditations on faith and light.; A poet could use Saint Vitus in protective lyrics for dancers and those afflicted with nervous disorders, symbolizing triumphant youth.; His early martyrdom inspires ballads contrasting playful vitality with steadfast witness under persecution.
Additional Notes
Saint Vitus, a 4th-century Sicilian youth martyred under Diocletian after refusing to renounce faith and reportedly curing the emperor's daughter of possession or illness, became patron against epilepsy, chorea (St. Vitus' dance), and for dancers, actors, and comedians due to legends of involuntary movements or protective intercession. The "dancing mania" epidemics of the Middle Ages were sometimes attributed to or cured through his invocation, linking him to rhythmic frenzy and healing. Poets like Joseph Fasano in "St. Vitus' Dance" use the motif for endurance amid chaos or the human spirit's wild persistence. Usage tip: employ in rhythmic or ecstatic verse exploring neurological affliction, artistic frenzy, or youthful witness, contrasting bodily spasms with spiritual liberation; related to other healer-martyrs like Blaise or Pantaleon, he suits medical or performance-themed poetry, allowing analysis of how folk beliefs transform hagiography into metaphors for madness, joy, or communal catharsis in historical or psychological lyrics.
Also Known As
Vitus of Sicily St. Vitus St. Vitus' Dance
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