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



Vodyanoy

Folklore
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

Male water spirit in Slavic folklore, green-bearded and dwelling in rivers

Detailed Definition
Vodyanoy drowns those who disrespect water. In poetry, he embodies the peril of nature, the need for ritual respect, and the liminal space between worlds, frequently appearing in ecological or cautionary contexts.
Example
Example in poetry:
Vodyanoy, Slavic water spirit, haunts river poetry: "Vodyanoy drowns the boastful—pulls them deep where weeds entwine"; Poets use him to explore respect for nature: "Fishermen leave him bread and salt—Vodyanoy guards the river’s flow"; In ambiguous verse, he’s both helper and harmer: "Kind to some, cruel to others—Vodyanoy judges by the heart"; His green beard inspires aquatic imagery: "Algae crown, frog eyes—Vodyanoy’s throne is riverbed and stone"
Additional Notes
Vodyanoy: A male water spirit in Slavic folklore, green-bearded and bloated, ruling rivers and ponds, demanding sacrifices. Appears as an old man or frog. In poetry, he embodies ecological balance, territorial sovereignty, and the danger of disrespecting nature. Useful in eco-gothic or Slavic verse; contrast with benevolent water deities like Mami Wata for cultural contrasts in aquatic spirits.
Also Known As
Water spirit Vodnik Vodyanoy Water Spirit
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