---
title: Then spake the kings confederate; ‘Hard albeit That task, to draw Cu… — The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of I… · tree and pragmatics
description: Then spake the kings confederate; ‘Hard albeit That task, to draw Cuchullain from his charge, Seek him, and proffer terms!’ Who acts: you, kings, King. A sentence of «The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age» by Aubrey De Vere, Opening, part 12, with its dependency tree an
---

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# The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 12, sentence 23

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Then spake the kings confederate; ‘Hard albeit That task, to draw Cuchullain from his charge, Seek him, and proffer terms!’

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**Who acts:** you, kings, King · **What happens:** speak, confederate, draw, seek, charge · **To what, where:** proffer terms, Cuchullain, charge, King · **Speech:** someone speaks here

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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 12. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (you, kings, King), 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:pg78491:12:25
# text = Then spake the kings confederate; ‘Hard albeit That task, to draw Cuchullain from his charge, Seek him, and proffer terms!’
1	Then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	2	advmod	_	_
2	spake	speak	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	4	det	_	_
4	kings	king	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	nsubj	_	_
5	confederate	confederate	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	2	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
7	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	8	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	Hard	hard	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	2	parataxis	_	_
9	albeit	albeit	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
10	That	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	11	det	_	_
11	task	task	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
12	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
13	to	to	PART	TO	_	14	mark	_	_
14	draw	draw	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	8	parataxis	_	_
15	Cuchullain	Cuchullain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
16	from	from	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
17	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
18	charge	charge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	20	punct	_	_
20	Seek	seek	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	14	conj	_	_
21	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	20	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
23	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	25	cc	_	_
24	proffer	proffer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	compound	_	_
25	terms	term	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	2	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	!	!	PUNCT	.	_	25	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **speak** *speech: other* | imperative | you *not said here* | proffer terms |  |  | then |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **confederate** | present | the kings |  |  |  |  |  | vn amalgamate-22.2-2 «NP V ADVP-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **draw** | to-infinitive |  | Cuchullain |  | King's charge |  |  | vn carry-11.4 «NP V NP PP.initial\_location»: agent=Agent cuchullain=Theme from charge=Initial\_Location |
| 4 | **seek** | infinitive |  | King |  |  |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent he=Theme |
| 5 | **charge** |  | King |  |  |  |  |  | nom charge «act transitive»: poss=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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