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

Spear

Military
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 spear is a long-shafted weapon with a pointed tip, one of the oldest weapons used in warfare and hunting.

Detailed Definition
The spear carries ancient, primal associations with warfare's earliest forms, appearing throughout epic poetry from Homer's Iliad onward as a symbol of heroic, individual combat. Its simplicity and directness lend it a timeless quality, often used in poetry to evoke elemental human aggression and the archetypal warrior figure. The spear also holds ceremonial and mythological significance across many cultures, extending beyond purely practical martial use.
Example
Example in poetry:
Homer's Iliad depicts the spear as central to ancient heroic combat, wielded by legendary warriors; A poem might describe a spear's simple, direct thrust, evoking elemental human aggression; Poets use "spear" to connect modern verse to warfare's most primal, ancient origins; A verse could contrast the spear's archaic simplicity with the complexity of later weaponry; The term appears in mythological poetry where spears carry ceremonial and symbolic significance; Historical epic poetry sometimes uses the spear to evoke the archetypal warrior figure across cultures.
Additional Notes
A spear is a long-shafted weapon with a pointed tip, one of the oldest weapons used in warfare and hunting. The spear's simplicity and effectiveness made it the weapon of the common soldier for millennia. It offers reach, thrusting power, and can be thrown. In poetry, the spear represents the primal weapon, the extension of the human arm, and the oldest form of armed combat. Related terms include javelin, pike, and lance. The spear's use in phalanxes and as a missile weapon makes it a versatile tool. Its symbolism extends to agriculture and hunting, linking war to sustenance.
Also Known As
Lance Javelin Pike Shaft Throwing Spear glaive
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