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



Song

World Religion
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 musical composition for voice, often integral to religious worship, prayer, and the expression of devotion across traditions.

Detailed Definition
From the Psalms of David and Hindu Bhajans to Sufi Qawwali and Gregorian Chant, song is a primary mode of addressing the divine. It is believed to have the power to elevate the soul, express emotions beyond words, and unite a community in worship. Poetry and song are historically intertwined; much of the world's greatest religious poetry was written to be sung. Song in poetry symbolizes joyful praise, heartfelt lament, communal unity, and the harmonious expression of the soul's relationship with God.
Example
Example in poetry:
In biblical poetry, Song celebrates love and God: “Song of Songs—love as divine metaphor”; In Sufi verse, Song is remembrance: “Qawwali rises—Song that melts separation”; In contemporary poetry, Song is resistance: “Freedom anthem—Song that cracks chains”; Poets describe Song’s power: “Lullaby—Song that stitches wounds across generations.”
Additional Notes
Song is central to worship—Psalms, bhajans, gospel, Qur’anic recitation (tajwid); it unites emotion, theology, and community; poets study sacred song for its musicality, refrain, and emotive power, recognizing that truth sung is often more deeply remembered and felt than truth merely spoken.
Also Known As
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