The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 13, sentence 61
Best, methinks, of all That lullaby half war and sorrow half Breathed by some bride while o’er her wounded lord Softly descends the sleep:--so softly sank Cold dews of evening on this flower still wet.’
Who acts: Best methinks · What happens: breathe, descend, sink · To what, where: sleep, Cold dews, flower
This is a sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 13. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Best methinks), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.
Mova's own parse. This tree may be wrong.
The tree
The words, one row each (CoNLL-U)
| # | word | lemma | UPOS | features | head | relation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best | good | ADJ | Degree=Sup | 3 methinks | amod |
| 2 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 3 methinks | punct |
| 3 | methinks | methink | NOUN | Number=Plur | 31 sank | nsubj |
| 4 | , | , | PUNCT | _ | 10 war | punct |
| 5 | of | of | ADP | _ | 10 war | case |
| 6 | all | all | DET | PronType=Tot | 10 war | det:predet |
| 7 | That | that | PRON | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 10 war | nsubj |
| 8 | lullaby | lullaby | NOUN | Number=Sing | 10 war | compound |
| 9 | half | half | NOUN | Number=Sing NumForm=Word NumType=Frac | 10 war | compound |
| 10 | war | war | NOUN | Number=Sing | 3 methinks | nmod |
| 11 | and | and | CCONJ | _ | 14 Breathed | cc |
| 12 | sorrow | sorrow | AUX | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 14 Breathed | aux |
| 13 | half | half | ADV | NumForm=Word NumType=Frac | 14 Breathed | advmod |
| 14 | Breathed | breathe | VERB | Tense=Past VerbForm=Part Voice=Pass | 10 war | conj |
| 15 | by | by | ADP | _ | 17 bride | case |
| 16 | some | some | DET | PronType=Ind | 17 bride | det |
| 17 | bride | bride | NOUN | Number=Sing | 14 Breathed | obl |
| 18 | while | while | SCONJ | _ | 24 descends | mark |
| 19 | o’er | o'er | ADP | _ | 22 lord | case |
| 20 | her | her | PRON | Case=Gen Gender=Fem Number=Sing Person=3 Poss=Yes PronType=Prs | 22 lord | nmod:poss |
| 21 | wounded | wounded | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 22 lord | amod |
| 22 | lord | lord | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 descends | obl |
| 23 | Softly | softly | ADV | _ | 24 descends | advmod |
| 24 | descends | descend | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Sing Person=3 Tense=Pres VerbForm=Fin | 14 Breathed | advcl |
| 25 | the | the | DET | Definite=Def PronType=Art | 26 sleep | det |
| 26 | sleep | sleep | NOUN | Number=Sing | 24 descends | obj |
| 27 | : | : | PUNCT | _ | 24 descends | punct |
| 28 | -- | -- | PUNCT | _ | 31 sank | punct |
| 29 | so | so | ADV | _ | 31 sank | advmod |
| 30 | softly | softly | ADV | _ | 31 sank | advmod |
| 31 | sank | sink | VERB | Mood=Ind Number=Plur Person=3 Tense=Past VerbForm=Fin | root | root |
| 32 | Cold | cold | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 33 dews | amod |
| 33 | dews | dew | NOUN | Number=Plur | 31 sank | obj |
| 34 | of | of | ADP | _ | 35 evening | case |
| 35 | evening | evening | NOUN | Number=Sing | 33 dews | nmod |
| 36 | on | on | ADP | _ | 38 flower | case |
| 37 | this | this | DET | Number=Sing PronType=Dem | 38 flower | det |
| 38 | flower | flower | NOUN | Number=Sing | 31 sank | obl |
| 39 | still | still | ADV | _ | 40 wet | advmod |
| 40 | wet | wet | ADJ | Degree=Pos | 38 flower | amod |
| 41 | . | . | PUNCT | _ | 31 sank | punct |
| 42 | ’ | ' | PUNCT | _ | 31 sank | punct |
Pragmatics
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | breathe | present | Best methinks of all lullaby half war That not said here | by some bride; half property | vn breathe-40.1.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | ||||
| 2 | descend | present | Best methinks of all lullaby half war That not said here | the sleep | o'er bride's wounded lord; softly property | vn meander-47.7-1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location sleep=Theme | |||
| 3 | sink | past | Best methinks of all lullaby half war That | Cold dews of evening | this flower | softly property | vn other_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent dew=Patient |
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.
Text: «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Project Gutenberg book 78491 (public domain in the USA). Tree: Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. Frames: Mova's frames reader (prag), the chapter read in order.
This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg78491/13/61/