---
title: “Would to God, my father,” said she, “that the earth had opened and… — Legends of the conquest of Spain · tree and pragmatics
description: “Would to God, my father,” said she, “that the earth had opened and swallowed me ere I had been reduced to write these lines. Who acts: God. A sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, The Story of Florinda., with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Legends of the conquest of Spain, The Story of Florinda., sentence 74

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“Would to God, my father,” said she, “that the earth had opened and swallowed me ere I had been reduced to write these lines.

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**Who acts:** God · **What happens:** say, open, swallow, reduce, write · **To what, where:** name, God, lines · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the conquest of Spain» by Washington Irving, The Story of Florinda.. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (God), 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:pg77685:6:74
# text = “Would to God, my father,” said she, “that the earth had opened and swallowed me ere I had been reduced to write these lines.
1	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	4	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
2	Would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
3	to	to	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
4	God	God	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	10	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
6	my	my	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=1|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	father	father	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	”	"	PUNCT	''	_	7	punct	_	_
10	said	say	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
11	she	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	18	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	18	punct	_	_
13	“	"	PUNCT	``	_	18	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	18	mark	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	earth	earth	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	nsubj:pass	_	_
17	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	aux	_	_
18	opened	open	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	10	ccomp	_	_
19	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	20	cc	_	_
20	swallowed	swallow	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	18	conj	_	_
21	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	_
22	ere	ere	ADV	RB	_	20	advmod	_	_
23	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	26	nsubj	_	_
24	had	have	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	26	aux	_	_
25	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	26	aux:pass	_	_
26	reduced	reduce	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	parataxis	_	_
27	to	to	PART	TO	_	28	mark	_	_
28	write	write	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	26	xcomp	_	_
29	these	this	DET	DT	Number=Plur|PronType=Dem	30	det	_	_
30	lines	line	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	28	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
31	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	10	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **say** *speech: assert* | past | God |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 2 | **open** *in a quote* | past · perfect · passive |  | name |  |  |  | the earth *nsubj:pass* | vn spatial\_configuration-47.6-1 «PP.location V NP»: subject=Theme |
| 3 | **swallow** *in a quote* | past |  | God |  |  |  | ere *property* | vn gobble-39.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=Patient |
| 4 | **reduce** *in a quote* | past · perfect · passive |  | God |  |  |  |  | vn limit-76 «NP V NP S\_INF»: subject=Patient clause=Goal |
| 5 | **write** *in a quote* | to-infinitive |  | this lines |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent line=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:** «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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