---
title: A change came then, for the clouds had also been moving and the moon… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: A change came then, for the clouds had also been moving and the moon at last was sensed behind them--not as a radiance, but as a percolation of light, a gleam that was strained through matter after matter and was less than the very wraith or remembrance of itself; a thing seen so narrowly, so sparse
---

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# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter XIV, sentence 7

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A change came then, for the clouds had also been moving and the moon at last was sensed behind them--not as a radiance, but as a percolation of light, a gleam that was strained through matter after matter and was less than the very wraith or remembrance of itself; a thing seen so narrowly, so sparsely, that the eye could doubt if it was or was not seeing, and might conceive that its own memory was re-creating that which was still absent.

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**Who acts:** change, clouds, eye, own memory, light · **What happens:** come, move, sense, strain, be, see · **To what, where:** last, gleam, matter, thing, change

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This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter XIV. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (change, clouds, eye, own memory), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**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:pg2892:27:7
# text = A change came then, for the clouds had also been moving and the moon at last was sensed behind them--not as a radiance, but as a percolation of light, a gleam that was strained through matter after matter and was less than the very wraith or remembrance of itself; a thing seen so narrowly, so sparsely, that the eye could doubt if it was or was not seeing, and might conceive that its own memory was re-creating that which was still absent.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	change	change	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	3	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
6	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	12	mark	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
9	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
10	also	also	ADV	RB	_	12	advmod	_	_
11	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	12	aux	_	_
12	moving	move	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	3	advcl	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
14	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
15	moon	moon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	conj	_	_
16	at	at	SCONJ	IN	_	19	mark	_	_
17	last	last	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	nsubj:pass	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	19	aux:pass	_	_
19	sensed	sense	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	12	advcl	_	_
20	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	26	advmod	_	_
24	as	as	ADP	IN	_	26	case	_	_
25	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	radiance	radiance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
28	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	31	cc	_	_
29	as	as	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	percolation	percolation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	parataxis	_	_
32	of	of	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
33	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
35	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	gleam	gleam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	conj	_	_
37	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	39	nsubj:pass	_	_
38	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	39	aux:pass	_	_
39	strained	strain	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	36	acl:relcl	_	_
40	through	through	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
41	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	_
42	after	after	ADP	IN	_	43	case	_	_
43	matter	matter	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obl	_	_
44	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
45	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	46	cop	_	_
46	less	less	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	39	conj	_	_
47	than	than	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
48	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
49	very	very	ADV	RB	_	50	advmod	_	_
50	wraith	wraith	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	_
51	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	52	cc	_	_
52	remembrance	remembrance	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	conj	_	_
53	of	of	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
54	itself	itself	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Emp|Reflex=Yes	52	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	57	punct	_	_
56	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	57	det	_	_
57	thing	thing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	31	conj	_	_
58	seen	see	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	57	acl	_	_
59	so	so	ADV	RB	_	60	advmod	_	_
60	narrowly	narrowly	ADV	RB	_	58	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	63	punct	_	_
62	so	so	ADV	RB	_	63	advmod	_	_
63	sparsely	sparsely	ADV	RB	_	58	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	69	punct	_	_
65	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	69	mark	_	_
66	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	67	det	_	_
67	eye	eye	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	69	nsubj	_	_
68	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	69	aux	_	_
69	doubt	doubt	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	58	parataxis	_	_
70	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	76	mark	_	_
71	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	76	nsubj	_	_
72	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	76	aux	_	_
73	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	76	cc	_	_
74	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	76	aux	_	_
75	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	76	advmod	_	_
76	seeing	see	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	69	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
77	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	80	punct	_	_
78	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	80	cc	_	_
79	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	80	aux	_	_
80	conceive	conceive	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	69	conj	_	_
81	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	86	mark	_	_
82	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	84	nmod:poss	_	_
83	own	own	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	84	amod	_	_
84	memory	memory	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	86	nsubj	_	_
85	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	86	aux	_	_
86	re-creating	re-creat	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	80	advcl	_	_
87	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	91	mark	_	_
88	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	91	nsubj	_	_
89	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	91	cop	_	_
90	still	still	ADV	RB	_	91	advmod	_	_
91	absent	absent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	86	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
92	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **come** | past | a change |  |  |  | then |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 2 | **move** | past · perfect · progressive | the clouds |  |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 3 | **sense** | past · passive |  | last |  |  |  | behind clouds *= cloud* | vn see-30.1-1 «NP V S»: subject=Stimulus |
| 4 | **strain** | past · passive |  | a gleam |  | matter | after matter |  | vn wipe\_manner-10.4.1 «NP V NP.source»: subject=Source |
| 5 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  |  | than the wraith or remembrance of change; less *property* | tree rules |
| 6 | **see** | participle |  | a thing *not said here* |  |  |  | narrowly, sparsely *property* | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 7 | **doubt** | could | the eye |  |  |  |  |  | vn judgment-33.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **not** **see** *a condition, not said to happen* | past · progressive | change |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 9 | **conceive** | might | the eye *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn characterize-29.2-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 10 | **re-creat** | past · progressive | change's own memory |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 11 | **is** | past |  |  |  |  | still | absent *property* | tree rules |
| 12 | **percolate** |  | light |  |  |  |  |  | nom percolation «process intransitive»: of=agent |
| 13 | **remember** |  |  | change |  |  |  |  | nom remembrance «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .note -->
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.

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**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.

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- ↑ back to [Chapter XIV](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/27/)