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 V

Vulcanalia

Historical Festival
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

Roman festival on August 23 honoring Vulcan, god of fire, with sacrifices and rituals to prevent destructive fires during harvest season

Detailed Definition
The Volcanalia was observed on August 23 to appease Vulcan, Roman god of fire and metalworking, during the dangerous fire season when grain stores and wooden structures were most vulnerable. Romans sacrificed fish and small animals into fires, and the Flamen Volcanalis performed special rites. The festival's timing reflected agricultural anxieties about destructive conflagrations. In poetry, Volcanalia represents humanity's ambivalent relationship with transformative but dangerous forces, the tension between creative and destructive power, and appears in works exploring craft, danger, and the elemental forces that sustain and threaten civilization.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ovid’s “Fasti” recounts Vulcanalia with bonfires and protective rites; Poets use Vulcanalia to explore fire, craftsmanship, and hidden labor; In modern verse, Vulcanalia symbolizes creative forging and resilience; The festival appears in August poetry as summer’s forge heat; Poets contrast Vulcan’s lameness with divine skill; Industrial poets reference Vulcanalia as makers’ celebration.

Volcanalia appears in Roman poetry honoring Vulcan and fire's danger; Poets describe August rites when flames threaten dry harvest and homes; "At Volcanalia, we appease the smith-god's dangerous heat" shows usage; The festival provides material for verses on fire's dual nature and protective offerings; Roman lyrics employ Volcanalian imagery for themes of destructive power and necessary craft; Contemporary verse uses the term for exploring fire worship and seasonal anxiety
Additional Notes
Vulcanalia (August 23) is synonymous with Festival of Vulcan (ID 13659); see that entry for notes on fire rituals, fish sacrifices, and the poetics of creative destruction in honoring the god of the forge.

Volcanalia on August 23 honored Vulcan with sacrifices and rituals preventing destructive fires during hot, dry summer. The festival's timing at summer's peak reflects Roman concerns about fire danger and the need to propitiate the fire god. Understanding Volcanalia helps illuminate Roman religious responses to natural dangers and the ritualization of protective measures. The festival demonstrates Roman attention to seasonal hazards and beliefs about divine control over potentially destructive natural forces.
Also Known As
Vulcan Festival Festival of Vulcan Volcanalia
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