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 T

Theodora

Historical Figure
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

Byzantine empress and wife of Justinian, famed for her intelligence and influence

Detailed Definition
Theodora, once an actress, advised Justinian during the Nika riots and championed women’s rights. Procopius portrayed her complexly. Poets reference her as a symbol of risen power, the empress who shapes policy from the shadows, and the woman who defies class and gender to rule.
Example
Example in poetry:
Theodora appears in Byzantine and modern poetry as the empress who rose from actress to co-ruler, defying social norms; Poets highlight her role in the Nika riots, where her resolve saved Justinian’s throne; Her advocacy for women’s rights inspires verses on gender, power, and reform; Modern poets contrast her humble origins with imperial splendor to explore transformation and resilience; Her piety and political acumen are used to challenge stereotypes of female rulers; Theodora symbolizes the fusion of sensuality, intellect, and authority in a single historical figure.
Additional Notes
Theodora (c. 500–548 CE), Byzantine empress and wife of Justinian, rose from actress to co-ruler and championed women’s rights; in poetry, Theodora symbolizes transformative power, resilience, or the fusion of piety and politics—Procopius’ contrasting portraits (saint vs. seductress) offer rich ambiguity; useful for analyzing poems on gender, redemption, or the hidden hand in imperial history.
Also Known As
Theodora (wife of Justinian I) Empress Theodora
Skip to main content