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

Home › Glossary › Letter S

sop

Archaic Terms
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 piece of bread or food dipped or soaked in liquid; something given to pacify or bribe; a concession made to appease.

Detailed Definition
"Sop" derives from Old English "sopp" (bread dipped in liquid), referring literally to food soaked in wine, gravy, or broth, and figuratively to concessions offered to pacify or bribe. The classical reference to "sop to Cerberus"—bread given to the mythological guard dog of Hades—enriched its metaphorical usage. Poets employed "sop" literally in descriptions of meals and figuratively when depicting political or personal compromise where small concessions pacified potentially troublesome parties. The term's dual meaning—both food and bribe—reflected how hospitality and corruption overlapped. Its compact expression made it efficient for describing both literal sustenance and metaphorical appeasement. The word appears in contexts exploring themes of compromise, corruption, and the sometimes-cynical management of relationships through calculated generosity. Its archaic quality suited discussions of patronage, political management, and the practical accommodations required for social peace.
Example
Example in poetry:
Bread soaked in wine was offered as a sop to Cerberus in classical poetry; Milton uses "sop" to describe something given as appeasement or consolation; A sop of comfort to ease the pain of loss; The king threw gold as a sop to quiet the angry mob; Her kind words were but a sop to his wounded pride; Throwing scraps as a sop to the hungry dogs below the feast table
Additional Notes
A “sop” was literally bread soaked in wine or broth, but figuratively came to mean something given to placate or appease, such as “a sop to Cerberus” in classical mythology. Poets might use the term to symbolise bribery, compromise, or consolation. Understanding its dual literal and metaphorical uses helps illuminate moral or social commentary in older literature.
Also Known As
morsel crumb bit dip
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