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

toom

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

Toom is an archaic Northern English and Scots dialect term meaning empty, vacant, or unoccupied.

Detailed Definition
In archaic poetry and dialect literature, "toom" describes absence or void—whether of a seat at a table, a heart bereft of joy, or a space left by loss—adding stark emotional resonance to scenes of mourning or desolation. It underscores themes of emptiness in both literal and figurative senses, enhancing the tactile, regional flavor of folk-inspired verse. Its significance stems from its ability to convey profound hollowness through simple, everyday dialect, bridging the gap between oral tradition and written poetry. Nuances often involve contexts of sudden vacancy due to death or departure, evoking communal rituals and personal grief.
Example
Example in poetry:
From F. W. Moorman's "Telling The Bees": "But toom' is t' seat at t' table-head." The term highlights the vacant chair of the deceased during the funeral feast, symbolizing irreplaceable loss within the family gathering.
Additional Notes
Historical context or origin: Common in Yorkshire, Cumberland, and Scots dialects, with roots in older Germanic languages, preserved in 19th- and 20th-century dialect poetry. Related terms or variations: Often appears as "toom'" in phonetic spelling; akin to "empty" or "vacant," with Scots parallels. Common usage tips or pitfalls to avoid: Ideal for dialect authenticity in regional or historical poems; pair with glosses in broader audiences to maintain accessibility. Cross-references to similar or contrasting terms: Similar to "void" or "bare" in archaic usage; contrasts with terms of abundance like "brimming" or "full." Etymology if relevant: From Old English/Scots roots meaning empty, related to concepts of pouring out or clearing.
Also Known As
empty vacant barren
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