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 Z

Zion

Historical Location
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

A hill in Jerusalem, later a poetic name for the city and symbol of God’s dwelling

Detailed Definition
Zion originally referred to the Jebusite fortress David captured, but became synonymous with Jerusalem, the Temple, and God’s eternal kingdom. In poetry, Zion symbolizes hope, divine presence, and eschatological fulfillment—often as the ideal city toward which all longing points, especially in psalms, prophetic visions, and spirituals.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Psalm 137, Zion (Jerusalem) evokes exilic longing and sacred memory; The medieval “Zionides” are Hebrew liturgical poems mourning and hoping for Zion; William Blake’s “Jerusalem” reimagines Zion as a spiritual England; Modern Israeli poets use Zion as national and spiritual symbol; Contemporary global poets use Zion to explore faith, return, and contested belonging.
Additional Notes
Zion originally referred to Jerusalem’s citadel but expanded to symbolize the entire city, the people of God, and eschatological hope. In Psalm 137, it evokes exilic longing; in Blake, it imagines divine immanence. Modern usage spans religious, national, and political contexts. Students should note its contrast with Babylon and its role in liberation theology and diaspora poetry.
Other Meanings of “Zion”
Also Known As
Mount Zion Holy Hill City of David Celestial Jerusalem Jerusalem
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