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

Spunk

Dialect
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

Courage, spirit, or vivacity; also a match or spark, hence the derivation of "spunky."

Detailed Definition
"Spunk" is a favourite Scots word for the kind of spirited courage that goes beyond mere bravery — it is life-force, vivacity, the fire that animates a person. Burns uses it to celebrate the creative spark ("Gie me ae spark o' Nature's fire") and the moral courage to stand against convention. The word's origin in the spark of fire is always present, giving it energy and urgency. In poetry "spunk" is both description and aspiration, celebrating the quality that makes poetry itself possible.
Example
Example in poetry:
"Spunk" means courage, spirit, or a spark (also matches); Burns uses the concept of spunk throughout; A poet might write: "She faced the board wi' spunk intact — / a woman unafraid of fact." for a portrait of courage; "The spunk that lit him in his youth — / still sparked in age, though small in truth." traces continuity of character; "Spunk is the smallest fire — / that grows in those who will aspire." uses fire imagery; "Dinnae mistake his quiet for nae spunk — / still waters sometimes carry trunk." warns against underestimating the quiet; "The spunk of the dispossessed is strong — / it's what has kept their cause lifelong." applies the word to collective resistance
Additional Notes
Spunk has a double etymology — from the Gaelic "spong" (tinder, touchwood) through the idea of the spark that ignites tinder, to the figurative meaning of inner fire, courage, and spirit. This origin gives the word physical immediacy: spunk is not an abstract quality but something kindled, a small fire that can either grow or be extinguished. Burns praises it in individuals and communities, celebrating the spark of life and resistance. The word's later English slang meanings are irrelevant to its use in Scots poetry but can create comic confusion for modern readers — students should be alert to contextual disambiguation. In its Scots sense, "spunk" remains a wholly admirable quality.
Also Known As
Spirit Courage Fire
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