---
title: The moon was just a little above him; the stars were right at his fi… — The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North · tree and pragmatics
description: The moon was just a little above him; the stars were right at his fingers’ ends; in another moment he would grasp them all. Who acts: moon, tree. A sentence of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, The Tempest, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North, The Tempest, sentence 16

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The moon was just a little above him; the stars were right at his fingers’ ends; in another moment he would grasp them all.

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**Who acts:** moon, tree · **What happens:** be, grasp · **To what, where:** ends, stars

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This is a sentence of «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, The Tempest. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (moon, tree), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg66819:8:16
# text = The moon was just a little above him; the stars were right at his fingers’ ends; in another moment he would grasp them all.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	moon	moon	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	13	nsubj	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	just	just	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	little	little	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	acl:relcl	_	_
7	above	above	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	2	punct	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	stars	star	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	nsubj	_	_
12	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	13	cop	_	_
13	right	right	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
14	at	at	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
15	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	16	nmod:poss	_	_
16	fingers	finger	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	18	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	’	's	PART	POS	_	16	case	_	_
18	ends	end	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	13	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	25	punct	_	_
20	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	another	another	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	22	det	_	_
22	moment	moment	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obl	_	_
23	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
24	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
25	grasp	grasp	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	conj	_	_
26	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	obj	_	_
27	all	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	26	nmod:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	13	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the moon *not said here* |  |  |  |  | above tree; little *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **is** | past | the moon |  |  |  | at tree's fingers's ends | the stars *nsubj*; right *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **grasp** | would | tree | stars *= star* |  |  | moment |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer they=Stimulus |

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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:** «The Sampo: A Wonder Tale of the Old North» by James Baldwin, Project Gutenberg book 66819 (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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