---
title: Not a ray of light pierced the clouds save the fire of the lightning… — Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains · tree and pragmatics
description: Not a ray of light pierced the clouds save the fire of the lightning, followed ever more quickly by the deafening claps of thunder; in torrents the clouds now poured their streams on the mountains, the firm rocks seemed to quake to their foundations; it was as if the _Dies Iræ_ were come. Who acts: 
---

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# Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains, A Historical Tale., part 5, sentence 103

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Not a ray of light pierced the clouds save the fire of the lightning, followed ever more quickly by the deafening claps of thunder; in torrents the clouds now poured their streams on the mountains, the firm rocks seemed to quake to their foundations; it was as if the \_Dies Iræ\_ were come.

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**Who acts:** pierced clouds, clouds, firm rocks, stream · **What happens:** pierce, save, follow, pour, seem, quake · **To what, where:** ray, streams, torrents, light, lightning, thunder

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This is a sentence of «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, A Historical Tale., part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (pierced clouds, clouds, firm rocks, stream), 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:pg74323:22:103
# text = Not a ray of light pierced the clouds save the fire of the lightning, followed ever more quickly by the deafening claps of thunder; in torrents the clouds now poured their streams on the mountains, the firm rocks seemed to quake to their foundations; it was as if the _Dies Iræ_ were come.
1	Not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	3	advmod	_	_
2	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	ray	ray	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obl	_	_
4	of	of	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	light	light	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	pierced	pierce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	8	amod	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	9	nsubj	_	_
9	save	save	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	fire	fire	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	14	det	_	_
14	lightning	lightning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	followed	follow	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	advcl	_	_
17	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	18	advmod	_	_
18	more	more	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	19	advmod	_	_
19	quickly	quickly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
20	by	by	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
22	deafening	deafening	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	compound	_	_
23	claps	clap	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obl	_	_
24	of	of	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	thunder	thunder	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	32	punct	_	_
27	in	in	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	torrents	torrent	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	obl	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	30	det	_	_
30	clouds	cloud	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	nsubj	_	_
31	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	32	advmod	_	_
32	poured	pour	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	9	parataxis	_	_
33	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	34	nmod:poss	_	_
34	streams	stream	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	obj	_	_
35	on	on	ADP	IN	_	37	case	_	_
36	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	37	det	_	_
37	mountains	mountain	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	32	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
38	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	42	punct	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
40	firm	firm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	41	amod	_	_
41	rocks	rock	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	42	nsubj	_	_
42	seemed	seem	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	32	conj	_	_
43	to	to	PART	TO	_	44	mark	_	_
44	quake	quake	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	42	xcomp	_	_
45	to	to	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
46	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	47	nmod:poss	_	_
47	foundations	foundation	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	44	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	59	punct	_	_
49	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	59	nsubj	_	_
50	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	59	cop	_	_
51	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	59	mark	_	_
52	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	59	mark	_	_
53	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	55	det	_	_
54	_	_	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	55	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
55	Dies	Dies	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	59	nsubj	_	_
56	Iræ	Iræ	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	55	flat	_	SpaceAfter=No
57	_	_	PUNCT	NFP	_	55	punct	_	_
58	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	59	aux	_	_
59	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pierce** | participle |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn poke-19-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **save** | present | the pierced clouds | a ray of light |  |  |  | the fire of the lightning *obj* | vn get-13.5.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent fire=Theme |
| 3 | **follow** | participle | the pierced clouds *not said here* |  |  |  | ever | by the deafening claps of thunder; quickly *property* | vn occur-48.3-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Theme by clap=Location |
| 4 | **pour** | past | the clouds | clouds's streams |  | torrents | now | on the mountains | vn preparing-26.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent stream=Patient |
| 5 | **seem** | past | the firm rocks |  |  |  |  |  | vn seem-109-1-1-1 «NP V S\_INF»: agent=Theme clause=Attribute |
| 6 | **quake** | to-infinitive | the firm rocks *not said here* |  |  |  |  | to clouds's foundations | vn body\_internal\_states-40.6 «NP V»: agent=Experiencer |
| 7 | **is** *a condition, not said to happen* | past | stream |  |  |  |  | the \_ Dies *nsubj*; come *property* | tree rules |
| 8 | **ray** |  |  | light |  |  |  |  | nom ray «phenomenon transitive»: of=patient |
| 9 | **fire** |  |  | the lightning |  |  |  |  | nom fire «event transitive»: of=patient |
| 10 | **clap** |  |  | thunder |  |  |  |  | nom clap «event transitive»: of=patient |

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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:** «Legends and tales of the Harz Mountains» by Toofie Lauder, Project Gutenberg book 74323 (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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