Stephen often evokes music to describe the intuitive, mysterious loveliness of certain experiences: the sound of the gas pipes at Clongowes is a song, the wheels of the train to Cork beat out a rhythmic music, the words in poems sound out melodies, memory itself is like music. Music also signals moments of transition and discovery; a simple melody turns Stephen away from the priesthood and reminds him of his artistic ambitions. More generally, music represents a loosening of boundaries: “the music passed in an instant, as the first bars of sudden music always did, over the fantastic fabrics of his mind, dissolving them painlessly and noiselessly as a sudden wave dissolves the sandbuilt turrets of children.” Stephen responds strongly and intuitively to music, and it helps restore his childlike, artistic connection to the world around him.