---
title: The pen was thrown aside to grasp the sword and spear; and men were… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: The pen was thrown aside to grasp the sword and spear; and men were too much taken up with battling against the evils which beset them on every side, to find time or inclination to record them. Who acts: men, evils. A sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Opening, with
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, Opening, sentence 9

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The pen was thrown aside to grasp the sword and spear; and men were too much taken up with battling against the evils which beset them on every side, to find time or inclination to record them.

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**Who acts:** men, evils · **What happens:** throw, grasp, be, take up, beset, find · **To what, where:** pen, sword, men, side

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Opening. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (men, evils), 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:pg77685:1:9
# text = The pen was thrown aside to grasp the sword and spear; and men were too much taken up with battling against the evils which beset them on every side, to find time or inclination to record them.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	pen	pen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj:pass	_	_
3	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	4	aux:pass	_	_
4	thrown	throw	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
5	aside	aside	ADV	RB	_	4	advmod	_	_
6	to	to	PART	TO	_	7	mark	_	_
7	grasp	grasp	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	advcl	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	sword	sword	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	spear	spear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	17	punct	_	_
13	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	14	cc	_	_
14	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj	_	_
15	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	too	too	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	much	much	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	conj	_	_
18	taken	take	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	17	advcl	_	_
19	up	up	ADP	RP	_	18	compound:prt	_	_
20	with	with	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
21	battling	battling	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	obl	_	_
22	against	against	ADP	IN	_	24	case	_	_
23	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	evils	evil	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	21	nmod	_	_
25	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	26	nsubj	_	_
26	beset	beset	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	24	acl:relcl	_	_
27	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	26	obj	_	_
28	on	on	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	every	every	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	30	det	_	_
30	side	side	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
32	to	to	PART	TO	_	33	mark	_	_
33	find	find	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	_
34	time	time	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	33	obj	_	_
35	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
36	inclination	inclination	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	conj	_	_
37	to	to	PART	TO	_	38	mark	_	_
38	record	record	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	34	acl	_	_
39	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **throw** | past · passive |  | the pen |  |  |  | aside *property* | vn throw-17.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 2 | **grasp** | to-infinitive |  | the sword and spear |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer sword=Stimulus |
| 3 | **is** | past | men |  |  |  |  | much *property* | tree rules |
| 4 | **take up** | participle | men *not said here* |  |  |  |  | with battling against the evils | vn bring-11.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **beset** | present | the evils | men *= man* |  | every side |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **find** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  | time |  | vn declare-29.4-1-1 «NP V what S\_INF»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **record** | to-infinitive |  | men *= man* |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent they=Theme |

<!-- .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:** «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, Project Gutenberg book 77685 (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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