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



strike

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

An English unit of dry capacity equal to two bushels or approximately 70 liters; varied regionally and by commodity.

Detailed Definition
The strike, measuring two bushels (about 70 liters or 4,300 cubic inches), varied somewhat by region and commodity. The term also referred to the wooden leveling tool used to strike off excess grain from a bushel measure. In poetry concerning grain measurement, markets, or agricultural commerce, strike provides authentic measurement terminology. The term evokes agricultural trade, market transactions, and the physical practice of measuring grain. Poets employed strikes when treating agricultural or market themes, adding measurement specificity and connecting to the physical practices of grain commerce through terminology that bridges measurement quantity and measuring technique.
Example
Example in poetry:
In poetry about grain markets, "the farmer brought three strikes of oats to sell" provides traditional market measurement; Agricultural verse might reference "strikes of wheat measured level, the wooden strike-board ensuring honest trade"; In verse about harvest, "forty strikes stored in the granary, substantial plenty against winter"; Historical poetry about rural economy describes "the strike—both measure and tool, noun naming what verb does"; Modern agricultural poetry might contrast "grandfather sold grain in strikes and bushels; I sell by weight in tonnes—volume replaced by mass"; Poetry about traditional practices uses "the wooden strike sweeping excess grain level, gesture of fairness in every transaction."
Additional Notes
The strike's dual meaning (2 bushels capacity and leveling tool) reflects measurement practice. Students should understand that strike both measured grain quantity (2 bushels ≈70 liters) and referred to wooden board used to strike off excess grain for level measure. This dual definition shows how measurement tools gave names to quantities. In poetry about grain markets, agricultural commerce, or measurement practice, strike provides authentic terminology connecting abstract quantity to physical practice. Understanding that fair measurement required literally striking excess grain level helps students appreciate practical measurement concerns—"strike" embodied fairness in trading. The term appears in contexts of grain trade, market regulations, and agricultural commerce. Students should recognize regional variation—strike wasn't perfectly standardized. Related terms include bushel, peck, and coomb, all grain measures. For students writing about agricultural markets, grain trade, or measurement's material practice, strike adds authentic vocabulary. The strike can represent fair dealing (honest measurement), agricultural commerce, or the relationship between measuring tools and measured quantities. The term evokes grain markets, wooden measures, and the gesture of striking level ensuring honesty.
Also Known As
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