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.

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



1650

Event dated 1620–1670

Dutch Golden Age Painting Peaks

Poet involved

What happened

The Dutch Golden Age, peaking around 1650, was a period of remarkable artistic achievement, with painters like Vermeer and Rembrandt creating intimate domestic scenes, landscapes, and portraits. This era was marked by a flourishing of the arts, fueled by economic prosperity and a burgeoning middle class. The works produced during this time not only reflect the cultural values of Dutch society but also contributed to the development of modern art, influencing generations of artists to come.

Literary impact

The peak of Dutch Golden Age painting around 1650 mirrored realist tendencies in contemporary poetry, particularly in the works of poets like John Milton. Their focus on everyday life and human experience reflected the artistic innovations of the time, creating a rich dialogue between visual art and literature.

Source: Wikipedia

Poets alive in 1650

40 poets

More events in 1650

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