“Not surprisingly, he began to sing, and because no one in the world could hear him, and he sang without inhibition, he sang well.”

“And he set to rhyme his ale-measures,And he sang aloud his laws,Because of the joy of giants,The joy without a cause.”

“The seasons sang to him - like ageless hymns with whisperings he could feel, but not fully understand.”

“He sang the last two lines strong and smooth, promising that he'd always be with me, even when I could no longer hear his voice. I whispered the lines with him, sending the promise right back”

“If he ever sang, she thought, the song would be so unbearably gorgeous, it would soar over spires of stone and steel, and pierce the hearts of humans and other creatures, and he could rule the world.”

“Beautiful songs could sometimes take a person out of themselves and carry them away to a place of magic. But when Jill sang, it was not about the song, really. She could sing the phone book. She could sing a shopping list. Whatever she sang, whatever the words or the tune, it was so beautiful, so achingly lovely, that no one could listen and be untouched.”