---
title: So they two stood there, like pictures painted on a wall, gazing at… — The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth · tree and pragmatics
description: So they two stood there, like pictures painted on a wall, gazing at each other, and groping in vain for recollection in the darkness of oblivion[6], like shadows in a dream. Who acts: women. A sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, A Sleep and a Dream., part 2, with its d
---

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# The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth, A Sleep and a Dream., part 2, sentence 74

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So they two stood there, like pictures painted on a wall, gazing at each other, and groping in vain for recollection in the darkness of oblivion\[6\], like shadows in a dream.

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**Who acts:** women · **What happens:** stand, paint, gaze, grope · **To what, where:** pictures, wall, vain

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This is a sentence of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, A Sleep and a Dream., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (women), 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:pg68641:4:74
# text = So they two stood there, like pictures painted on a wall, gazing at each other, and groping in vain for recollection in the darkness of oblivion[6], like shadows in a dream.
1	So	so	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
3	two	two	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	2	appos	_	_
4	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	there	there	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	4	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	8	punct	_	_
7	like	like	ADP	IN	_	8	case	_	_
8	pictures	picture	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	obl	_	_
9	painted	paint	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	acl	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	12	det	_	_
12	wall	wall	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	gazing	gaze	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
15	at	at	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	each	each	DET	DT	ExtPos=PRON|PronType=Rcp	14	obl	_	_
17	other	other	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	fixed	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	groping	grope	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	14	conj	_	_
21	in	in	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
22	vain	vain	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	obl	_	_
23	for	for	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
24	recollection	recollection	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
25	in	in	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
26	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	27	det	_	_
27	darkness	darkness	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	20	obl	_	_
28	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
29	oblivion	oblivion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	27	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	[	[	PUNCT	-LRB-	_	31	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	6	6	NUM	CD	NumForm=Digit|NumType=Card	29	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	]	]	PUNCT	-RRB-	_	31	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
33	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
34	like	like	ADP	IN	_	35	case	_	_
35	shadows	shadow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	20	obl	_	_
36	in	in	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
37	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
38	dream	dream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	35	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **stand** | past | women *= woman* |  |  | there |  | like pictures | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **paint** | participle |  | pictures *not said here* |  | a wall |  |  | vn image\_impression-25.1 «NP V NP.theme PP.destination»: agent=Agent on wall=Destination |
| 3 | **gaze** | gerund | women *= woman* *not said here* |  |  |  |  | at each | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent at each=Theme |
| 4 | **grope** | gerund | women *= woman* *not said here* |  |  | vain |  | for recollection; in the darkness of oblivion; like shadows in a dream | vn rummage-35.5-1 «NP V PP.location PP.theme»: agent=Agent in vain=Location for recollection=Theme |

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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 descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown, Project Gutenberg book 68641 (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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