--- title: We may be sure that the eye that could stay open stayed open that ni… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics description: We may be sure that the eye that could stay open stayed open that night as long as it could, and that the one ear listened to the sleepy song until the song got too low to be heard, until it was too tender to be felt vibrating along those soft arms, until Fionn was asleep again, with a new picture i --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/15/25/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Irish Fairy Tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/) / [Chapter II](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/15/) / 25 # Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter II, sentence 25 We may be sure that the eye that could stay open stayed open that night as long as it could, and that the one ear listened to the sleepy song until the song got too low to be heard, until it was too tender to be felt vibrating along those soft arms, until Fionn was asleep again, with a new picture in his little head and a new notion to ponder on. **Who acts:** We, eye, one ear, song, Fionn · **What happens:** be, stay, listen, get, hear, feel · **To what, where:** soft arms This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter II. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (We, eye, one ear, song), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree. **Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong. ## The tree {#tree} ```conllu # sent_id = book:pg2892:15:25 # text = We may be sure that the eye that could stay open stayed open that night as long as it could, and that the one ear listened to the sleepy song until the song got too low to be heard, until it was too tender to be felt vibrating along those soft arms, until Fionn was asleep again, with a new picture in his little head and a new notion to ponder on. 1 We we PRON PRP Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=1|PronType=Prs 4 nsubj _ _ 2 may may AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 4 aux _ _ 3 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 4 cop _ _ 4 sure sure ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 0 root _ _ 5 that that SCONJ IN _ 12 mark _ _ 6 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 7 det _ _ 7 eye eye NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 nsubj _ _ 8 that that PRON WDT PronType=Rel 10 nsubj _ _ 9 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 10 aux _ _ 10 stay stay VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 7 acl:relcl _ _ 11 open open ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 10 xcomp _ _ 12 stayed stay VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 ccomp _ _ 13 open open ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 12 xcomp _ _ 14 that that DET DT Number=Sing|PronType=Dem 15 det _ _ 15 night night NOUN NN Number=Sing 12 obl:unmarked _ _ 16 as as ADV RB _ 17 advmod _ _ 17 long long ADV RB Degree=Pos 12 advmod _ _ 18 as as SCONJ IN _ 20 mark _ _ 19 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 20 nsubj _ _ 20 could could AUX MD VerbForm=Fin 17 advcl _ SpaceAfter=No 21 , , PUNCT , _ 27 punct _ _ 22 and and CCONJ CC _ 27 cc _ _ 23 that that SCONJ IN _ 27 mark _ _ 24 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 26 det _ _ 25 one one NUM CD NumForm=Word|NumType=Card 26 nummod _ _ 26 ear ear NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 nsubj _ _ 27 listened listen VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 4 parataxis _ _ 28 to to ADP IN _ 31 case _ _ 29 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 31 det _ _ 30 sleepy sleepy ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 31 amod _ _ 31 song song NOUN NN Number=Sing 27 obl _ _ 32 until until SCONJ IN _ 35 mark _ _ 33 the the DET DT Definite=Def|PronType=Art 34 det _ _ 34 song song NOUN NN Number=Sing 35 nsubj _ _ 35 got get VERB VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 27 advcl _ _ 36 too too ADV RB _ 37 advmod _ _ 37 low low ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 35 xcomp _ _ 38 to to PART TO _ 40 mark _ _ 39 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 40 aux:pass _ _ 40 heard hear VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 37 conj _ SpaceAfter=No 41 , , PUNCT , _ 46 punct _ _ 42 until until SCONJ IN _ 46 mark _ _ 43 it it PRON PRP Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs 46 nsubj _ _ 44 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 46 cop _ _ 45 too too ADV RB _ 46 advmod _ _ 46 tender tender ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 40 parataxis _ _ 47 to to PART TO _ 49 mark _ _ 48 be be AUX VB VerbForm=Inf 49 aux:pass _ _ 49 felt feel VERB VBN Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass 46 advcl _ _ 50 vibrating vibrate VERB VBG VerbForm=Ger 49 xcomp _ _ 51 along along ADP IN _ 54 case _ _ 52 those that DET DT Number=Plur|PronType=Dem 54 det _ _ 53 soft soft ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 54 amod _ _ 54 arms arm NOUN NNS Number=Plur 50 obl _ SpaceAfter=No 55 , , PUNCT , _ 59 punct _ _ 56 until until SCONJ IN _ 59 mark _ _ 57 Fionn Fionn PROPN NNP Number=Sing 59 nsubj _ _ 58 was be AUX VBD Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin 59 cop _ _ 59 asleep asleep ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 49 advcl _ _ 60 again again ADV RB _ 59 advmod _ SpaceAfter=No 61 , , PUNCT , _ 65 punct _ _ 62 with with ADP IN _ 65 case _ _ 63 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 65 det _ _ 64 new new ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 65 amod _ _ 65 picture picture NOUN NN Number=Sing 49 parataxis _ _ 66 in in ADP IN _ 69 case _ _ 67 his his PRON PRP$ Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs 69 nmod:poss _ _ 68 little little ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 69 amod _ _ 69 head head NOUN NN Number=Sing 65 nmod _ _ 70 and and CCONJ CC _ 73 cc _ _ 71 a a DET DT Definite=Ind|PronType=Art 73 det _ _ 72 new new ADJ JJ Degree=Pos 73 amod _ _ 73 notion notion NOUN NN Number=Sing 69 conj _ _ 74 to to PART TO _ 75 mark _ _ 75 ponder ponder VERB VB VerbForm=Inf 73 acl _ _ 76 on on ADP RP _ 75 compound:prt _ SpaceAfter=No 77 . . PUNCT . _ 4 punct _ _ ``` ## Pragmatics {#pragmatics} | # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | **is** | may | We | | | | | sure *property* | tree rules | | 2 | **stay** | could | the eye | | | | | open *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 3 | **stay** | past | the eye | | | | night | long, open *property* | vn exist-47.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme | | 4 | **listen** | past | the one ear | | | | | to the sleepy song | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent to song=Theme | | 5 | **get** | past | the song | | | | | low *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer | | 6 | **hear** | to-infinitive · passive | the song *not said here* | | | | | | vn see-30.1-1-1 «NP V PP.stimulus» | | 7 | **is** | past | song | | | | | tender *property* | tree rules | | 8 | **feel** | to-infinitive · passive | song *not said here* | | | | | | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: clause=Stimulus | | 9 | **vibrate** | gerund | song *not said here* | | | that soft arms | | | vn modes\_of\_being\_with\_motion-47.3 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme along arm=Location | | 10 | **is** | past | Fionn | | | | again | asleep *property* | tree rules | | 11 | **ponder on** | to-infinitive | song *not said here* | | | | | | vn focus-87.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent | 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:** «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Project Gutenberg book 2892 (public domain in the USA). **Tree:** Mova's own parse, Elamur Cosmic License. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), the chapter read in order. - ← previous: [sentence 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/15/24/) - next →: [sentence 26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/15/26/) - ↑ back to [Chapter II](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/15/)