---
title: On his head He fixed his helm, and on his arm his shield Sable as ni… — The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of I… · tree and pragmatics
description: On his head He fixed his helm, and on his arm his shield Sable as night, with fifty bosses bound, All brass; the midmost like a noontide sun. Cuchullain eyed him as he neared the Ford, And spake to Leagh; ‘This day, if slack of hand Thou notest me, or wearied, hurl, as wont, Sharp storm of arrowy ra
---

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# The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 13, sentence 165

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
On his head He fixed his helm, and on his arm his shield Sable as night, with fifty bosses bound, All brass; the midmost like a noontide sun. Cuchullain eyed him as he neared the Ford, And spake to Leagh; ‘This day, if slack of hand Thou notest me, or wearied, hurl, as wont, Sharp storm of arrowy railing from thy lips That so the battle-anger from on high May flame on me.’

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**Who acts:** Red, midmost, slack, arrowy railing · **What happens:** fix, bind, eye, near, note, weary · **To what, where:** helm, head, fifty bosses, Red, Ford, me

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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 13. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Red, midmost, slack, arrowy railing), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

<!-- .note-en -->
**Mova's own parse.** This tree may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg78491:13:167
# text = On his head He fixed his helm, and on his arm his shield Sable as night, with fifty bosses bound, All brass; the midmost like a noontide sun. Cuchullain eyed him as he neared the Ford, And spake to Leagh; ‘This day, if slack of hand Thou notest me, or wearied, hurl, as wont, Sharp storm of arrowy railing from thy lips That so the battle-anger from on high May flame on me.’
1	On	on	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	3	nmod:poss	_	_
3	head	head	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obl	_	_
4	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
5	fixed	fix	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	helm	helm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
9	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	15	cc	_	_
10	on	on	ADP	IN	_	12	case	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	arm	arm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	_
13	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
14	shield	shield	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	nsubj	_	_
15	Sable	sable	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	5	conj	_	_
16	as	as	ADP	IN	_	17	case	_	_
17	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
19	with	with	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
20	fifty	fifty	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	21	nummod	_	_
21	bosses	boss	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	15	conj	_	_
22	bound	bind	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	21	acl	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
24	All	all	DET	DT	PronType=Tot	25	det	_	_
25	brass	brass	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	34	punct	_	_
27	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	28	det	_	_
28	midmost	midmost	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
29	like	like	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
30	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	noontide	noontide	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	28	nmod	_	_
32	sun.	sun.	PUNCT	``	_	33	punct	_	_
33	Cuchullain	Cuchullain	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	31	appos	_	_
34	eyed	eye	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
35	him	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	34	obj	_	_
36	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	38	mark	_	_
37	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	38	nsubj	_	_
38	neared	near	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	34	advcl	_	_
39	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	40	det	_	_
40	Ford	Ford	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	38	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
42	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
43	spake	speak	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl	_	_
44	to	to	ADP	IN	_	45	case	_	_
45	Leagh	Leagh	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	43	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
46	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	49	punct	_	_
47	‘	'	PUNCT	``	_	49	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
48	This	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	49	det	_	_
49	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obl:unmarked	_	SpaceAfter=No
50	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	56	punct	_	_
51	if	if	SCONJ	IN	_	56	mark	_	_
52	slack	slack	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	56	nsubj	_	_
53	of	of	ADP	IN	_	54	case	_	_
54	hand	hand	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	nmod	_	_
55	Thou	thou	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=2|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	56	nsubj	_	_
56	notest	note	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=2|Style=Arch|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	34	parataxis	_	_
57	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	56	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	60	punct	_	_
59	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	60	cc	_	_
60	wearied	weary	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	56	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	62	punct	_	_
62	hurl	hurl	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	60	xcomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	68	punct	_	_
64	as	as	ADP	IN	_	68	case	_	_
65	wont	wont	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	68	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
66	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	65	punct	_	_
67	Sharp	sharp	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	68	amod	_	_
68	storm	storm	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	obl	_	_
69	of	of	ADP	IN	_	71	case	_	_
70	arrowy	arrowy	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	71	amod	_	_
71	railing	railing	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	68	nmod	_	_
72	from	from	ADP	IN	_	74	case	_	_
73	thy	thy	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Sing|Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs|Style=Arch	74	nmod:poss	_	_
74	lips	lip	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	71	nmod	_	_
75	That	that	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	62	obj	_	_
76	so	so	SCONJ	IN	_	80	case	_	_
77	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	80	det	_	_
78	battle	battle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	80	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
79	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	78	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
80	anger	anger	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	obl	_	_
81	from	from	ADP	IN	_	85	case	_	_
82	on	on	ADP	IN	_	85	case	_	_
83	high	high	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	85	amod	_	_
84	May	May	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	85	compound	_	_
85	flame	flame	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	80	nmod	_	_
86	on	on	ADP	IN	_	87	case	_	_
87	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	85	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
88	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
89	’	'	PUNCT	''	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fix** | past | Red | Red's helm |  | Red's head |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent helm=Patient |
| 2 | **bind** | participle |  | fifty bosses and all brass *not said here* |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 3 | **eye** | past | the midmost like a noontide | Red |  |  | day | spake to Leagh *obl* | vn sight-30.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer he=Stimulus |
| 4 | **near** | past | Red | the Ford |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **note** *a condition, not said to happen* | present | slack of hand | me |  |  |  | Thou *nsubj* | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V NP.topic»: agent=Agent i=Topic |
| 6 | **weary** | participle | slack of hand *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 7 | **hurl** | infinitive | slack of hand *not said here* | That |  |  |  | as wont Sharp storm of arrowy railing from thy lips; so the battle anger from high May flame on me | vn throw-17.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent that=Theme |
| 8 | **storm** |  | arrowy railing from thy lips |  |  |  |  |  | nom storm «phenomenon intransitive»: of=agent |

<!-- .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:** «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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