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

Short personal lyric

Form
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 concise lyric poem centered on individual reflection, emotion, or momentary insight, typically under twenty lines.

Detailed Definition
Short personal lyric is a brief poem—typically under twelve lines—that expresses individual emotion, perception, or experience using first-person voice and concrete imagery, avoiding abstraction through sensory detail (“Rain taps the roof— / I think of you”). Rooted in the Romantic and confessional traditions, it prioritizes authenticity, immediacy, and emotional resonance over narrative or argument. The challenge lies in balancing intimacy with universality: the personal must feel specific yet relatable. Revision often involves cutting extraneous words to intensify impact, trusting that brevity, when grounded in precise observation, can convey profound emotional truth more powerfully than elaboration.
Example
Example in poetry:
Rain taps the roof— / I think of you; Streetlights glow— / Another night alone; Your scarf still smells / Of lavender and smoke; Winter came early— / My heart froze too
Additional Notes
Short personal lyric expresses individual emotion in under 12 lines, often using first-person and concrete imagery. It’s the backbone of contemporary poetry. Students should avoid abstraction—ground feelings in sensory details. Revision tip: cut 30% of words to increase intensity.
Also Known As
concise confessional miniature ego-poem intimate brief verse Abbreviated subjective verse
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