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 W

When hell freezes over

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 idiomatic phrase meaning never, under no circumstances, using the impossible image of hell freezing over to emphasize absolute impossibility or extreme improbability.

Detailed Definition
When hell freezes over means never, or only when something impossible happens. In poetry, the idiom combines theological place with absurd weather, making refusal vivid and absolute. It can be comic, bitter, defiant, or dramatic, especially in quarrels, vows, satire, or expressions of impossibility. A poet may use it to show stubborn resistance or to exaggerate disbelief. The phrase is useful for exploring impossible reconciliation, unyielding pride, and the imaginative power of hyperbolic refusal.
Example
Example in poetry:
A comic poem might have the stubborn farmer say he will sell the old horse when hell freezes over; In a love poem, the phrase can express impossible refusal with fiery exaggeration; The expression means never; A poet can use it for humour and defiance.
Additional Notes
When hell freezes over means never, because the imagined condition is impossible. In poetry, it can be comic, defiant, hyperbolic, or bitterly final. The phrase combines religious imagery with impossible weather, making refusal feel absolute. Students should ask whether the speaker’s certainty is comic bravado or emotional boundary. It pairs well with ice, fire, devils, vows, and situations where reconciliation or consent is emphatically denied.
Also Known As
When pigs fly
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