---
title: The only cause for surprise is that a moral so grave should have bee… — The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of I… · tree and pragmatics
description: The only cause for surprise is that a moral so grave should have been unconsciously bequeathed by an ancient work, written to amuse, not instruct. Who acts: only cause, ancient work. A sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 
---

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# The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 1, sentence 110

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The only cause for surprise is that a moral so grave should have been unconsciously bequeathed by an ancient work, written to amuse, not instruct.

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**Who acts:** only cause, ancient work · **What happens:** be, bequeath, write, amuse, not instruct · **To what, where:** moral, grave, ancient work

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This is a sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 1. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (only cause, ancient work), 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:pg78491:1:114
# text = The only cause for surprise is that a moral so grave should have been unconsciously bequeathed by an ancient work, written to amuse, not instruct.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	only	only	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	cause	cause	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
4	for	for	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
5	surprise	surprise	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nmod	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	cop	_	_
7	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	9	mark	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	moral	moral	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
10	so	so	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
11	grave	grave	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nsubj:pass	_	_
12	should	should	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	16	aux	_	_
13	have	have	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	aux	_	_
14	been	be	AUX	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part	16	aux:pass	_	_
15	unconsciously	unconsciously	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
16	bequeathed	bequeath	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	9	acl:relcl	_	_
17	by	by	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
18	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
19	ancient	ancient	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	20	amod	_	_
20	work	work	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
22	written	write	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	20	acl	_	_
23	to	to	PART	TO	_	24	mark	_	_
24	amuse	amuse	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	22	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	27	punct	_	_
26	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	27	advmod	_	_
27	instruct	instruct	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	24	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	9	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | the only cause for surprise | a moral |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **bequeath** | should · perfect · passive | a ancient work | grave |  |  |  | unconsciously *property* | vn future\_having-13.3 «NP V NP.theme (PP)»: agent=Agent subject=Theme |
| 3 | **write** | participle |  | a ancient work *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1 «NP V how S\_INF»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 4 | **amuse** | to-infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |
| 5 | **not** **instruct** *speech: other* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn advise-37.9-1 «NP V PP.topic»: agent=Agent |

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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 foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Project Gutenberg book 78491 (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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