---
title: I would like to pluck this blossom, but the branches which bear it a… — Winning Buddha's smile · tree and pragmatics
description: I would like to pluck this blossom, but the branches which bear it are so high I cannot reach them. Who acts: I, branches. A sentence of «Winning Buddha's smile», Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 4, with its dependency tree and the pragmatics of every clause.
---

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# Winning Buddha's smile, Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 4, sentence 142

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I would like to pluck this blossom, but the branches which bear it are so high I cannot reach them.

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**Who acts:** I, branches · **What happens:** like, pluck, bear, be, not reach · **To what, where:** blossom, branches

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This is a sentence of «Winning Buddha's smile», Winning Buddha’s Smile, part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, branches), 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:pg78208:6:144
# text = I would like to pluck this blossom, but the branches which bear it are so high I cannot reach them.
1	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	3	aux	_	_
3	like	like	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	pluck	pluck	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	7	det	_	_
7	blossom	blossom	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	17	punct	_	_
9	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	17	cc	_	_
10	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
11	branches	branch	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	17	nsubj	_	_
12	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	13	nsubj	_	_
13	bear	bear	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	acl:relcl	_	_
14	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	13	obj	_	_
15	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	so	so	ADV	RB	_	17	advmod	_	_
17	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	conj	_	_
18	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	21	nsubj	_	_
19	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	21	aux	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	21	advmod	_	_
21	reach	reach	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	17	parataxis	_	_
22	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	21	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **like** | would | I |  |  |  |  |  | vn want-32.1-1-1 «NP V NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot clause=Theme |
| 2 | **pluck** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive | I *not said here* | this blossom |  |  |  |  | vn braid-41.2.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent blossom=Patient |
| 3 | **bear** | present | the branches | blossom |  |  |  |  | vn birth-28.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent it=Patient |
| 4 | **is** | present | the branches |  |  |  |  | high *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **reach** | can | I | branches *= branch* |  |  |  |  | vn body\_motion-49.2-1-1 «NP V NP ADV»: 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:** «Winning Buddha's smile», Project Gutenberg book 78208 (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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