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.

After the death of my mother, 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.

My wife and I are simplifying our days. The server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit the quieter life we want.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the 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.

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 T

That ship has sailed

Idiomatic Phrase
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 idiom indicating that an opportunity has passed and cannot be recovered, using the metaphor of a departing ship to signify that the time for action has expired and the chance is no longer available.

Detailed Definition
That ship has sailed means the opportunity has passed and can no longer be recovered. In poetry, the idiom’s nautical image gives lost chance a visible departure: the vessel has left harbour, and the speaker remains on shore. It can describe missed love, delayed apology, youth, migration, career, or historical possibility. A poet may use it with regret, acceptance, bitterness, or comic finality. The phrase is useful for exploring time, irreversible choice, and the ache of belated recognition.
Example
Example in poetry:
A regret poem might say that ship has sailed when the old lover's letter arrives too late; In a comic poem, the chance to buy cheap apples has sailed with the cart; The phrase means an opportunity has passed; A poet can use it for finality and missed chances.
Additional Notes
That ship has sailed means the opportunity has passed and cannot now be recovered. The nautical image gives missed chance a visible departure: the vessel is already beyond the harbour. In poetry, it suits regret, ageing, lost love, delayed courage, exile, and historical change. Students should ask whether the speaker accepts finality or mourns it. It pairs well with docks, smoke, horizons, tickets, letters, and the ache of belated understanding.
Also Known As
too late
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