---
title: “And at times, from the moaning and yelping blackness of the sea, th… — Irish Fairy Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: “And at times, from the moaning and yelping blackness of the sea, there came a sound--thin-drawn as from millions of miles away, distinct as though uttered in the ear like a whisper of confidence--and I knew that a drowning man was calling on his God as he thrashed and was battered into silence, and
---

<!-- md -->
[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/6/25/)

<!-- crumbs -->
[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 V. “Tell on, my love,” Finnian…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/6/) / 25

# Irish Fairy Tales, Chapter V. “Tell on, my love,” Finnian murmured, sentence 25

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
“And at times, from the moaning and yelping blackness of the sea, there came a sound--thin-drawn as from millions of miles away, distinct as though uttered in the ear like a whisper of confidence--and I knew that a drowning man was calling on his God as he thrashed and was battered into silence, and that a blue-lipped woman was calling on her man as her hair whipped round her brows and she whirled about like a top.

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** Finnian, drowning man, man, lipped woman, woman · **What happens:** yelp, come, draw, utter, know, drown · **To what, where:** blackness, sound, ear, silence, hair, confidence · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
This is a sentence of «Irish Fairy Tales» by James Stephens, Chapter V. “Tell on, my love,” Finnian murmured. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Finnian, drowning man, man, lipped woman), 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:pg2892:6:25
# text = “And at times, from the moaning and yelping blackness of the sea, there came a sound--thin-drawn as from millions of miles away, distinct as though uttered in the ear like a whisper of confidence--and I knew that a drowning man was calling on his God as he thrashed and was battered into silence, and that a blue-lipped woman was calling on her man as her hair whipped round her brows and she whirled about like a top.
1	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	17	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	4	cc	_	_
3	at	at	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
6	from	from	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	moaning	moaning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nmod	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	10	cc	_	_
10	yelping	yelp	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	8	conj	_	_
11	blackness	blackness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	sea	sea	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
16	there	there	PRON	EX	PronType=Dem	17	expl	_	_
17	came	come	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
18	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
19	sound	sound	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	--	--	PUNCT	HYPH	_	19	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	thin	thin	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	23	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	drawn	draw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	19	acl	_	_
24	as	as	ADP	IN	ExtPos=ADP	26	case	_	_
25	from	from	ADP	IN	_	24	fixed	_	_
26	millions	million	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	miles	mile	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nmod	_	_
29	away	away	ADV	RB	_	28	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	31	punct	_	_
31	distinct	distinct	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	conj	_	_
32	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	34	mark	_	_
33	though	though	ADV	RB	_	34	advmod	_	_
34	uttered	utter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	31	conj	_	_
35	in	in	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	ear	ear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
38	like	like	ADP	IN	_	40	case	_	_
39	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	whisper	whisper	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	nmod	_	_
41	of	of	ADP	IN	_	42	case	_	_
42	confidence	confidence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	40	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
43	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
45	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	46	nsubj	_	_
46	knew	know	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	parataxis	_	_
47	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	52	mark	_	_
48	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	50	det	_	_
49	drowning	drown	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	50	amod	_	_
50	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	nsubj	_	_
51	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	aux	_	_
52	calling	call	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	46	ccomp	_	_
53	on	on	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
54	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	55	nmod:poss	_	_
55	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	52	obl	_	_
56	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	58	mark	_	_
57	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	58	nsubj	_	_
58	thrashed	thrash	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	52	advcl	_	_
59	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	61	cc	_	_
60	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	61	aux:pass	_	_
61	battered	batter	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	58	conj	_	_
62	into	into	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
63	silence	silence	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	61	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
64	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	73	punct	_	_
65	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	73	cc	_	_
66	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	73	mark	_	_
67	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	71	det	_	_
68	blue	blue	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	70	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
69	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	68	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
70	lipped	lip	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	71	amod	_	_
71	woman	woman	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	73	nsubj	_	_
72	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	73	aux	_	_
73	calling	call	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	52	advcl	_	_
74	on	on	ADP	IN	_	76	case	_	_
75	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	76	nmod:poss	_	_
76	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	73	obl	_	_
77	as	as	ADP	IN	_	79	case	_	_
78	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	79	nmod:poss	_	_
79	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	73	obl	_	_
80	whipped	whip	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	79	acl	_	_
81	round	round	ADP	IN	_	83	case	_	_
82	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	83	nmod:poss	_	_
83	brows	brow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	80	obl	_	_
84	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	86	cc	_	_
85	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	86	nsubj	_	_
86	whirled	whirl	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	46	conj	_	_
87	about	about	ADV	RB	_	86	advmod	_	_
88	like	like	ADP	IN	_	90	case	_	_
89	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	90	det	_	_
90	top	top	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	86	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
91	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	17	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **yelp** *in a quote* | gerund |  | blackness of the sea |  |  |  |  | vn animal\_sounds-38 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent blackness=Theme |
| 2 | **come** *in a quote* | past |  | a sound |  | there | time |  | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location sound=Theme |
| 3 | **draw** *in a quote* | participle |  | a sound *not said here* |  |  |  | as millions of miles | vn create-26.4-1-1 «NP V NP PP.attribute»: agent=Agent as million=Attribute |
| 4 | **utter** *speech: other* *in a quote* | participle |  |  |  | the ear like a whisper of confidence |  | though *property* | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **know** *in a quote* | past | Finnian |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 6 | **drown** *in a quote* | gerund |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn poison-42.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **call** *in a quote* | past · progressive | a drowning man |  |  |  |  | on man's God | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **thrash** *in a quote* | past | man |  |  |  |  |  | vn spank-18.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 9 | **batter** *in a quote* | past · passive | man *not said here* |  |  |  |  | into silence *result* | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP PP.result»: into silence=Result |
| 10 | **lip** *in a quote* | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 11 | **call** *in a quote* | past · progressive | a lipped woman |  |  |  |  | on woman's man; as woman's hair | vn initiate\_communication-37.4.2-1 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 12 | **whip** *in a quote* | participle |  | woman's hair *not said here* |  |  |  | round woman's brows | vn shake-22.3-1-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 13 | **whirl** *in a quote* | past | woman |  |  |  |  | like a top; about *property* | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP.theme V»: agent=Theme |
| 14 | **whisper** *in a quote* |  |  | confidence |  |  |  |  | nom whisper «communication 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.

<!-- div src -->

**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.

<!-- /div -->

<!-- pn -->
- ← previous: [sentence 24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/6/24/)
- next →: [sentence 26](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/6/26/)
- ↑ back to [Chapter V. “Tell on, my love,” Finnian murmured](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg2892/6/)