---
title: Meantime the Red-Branch Knights, like men in sleep Trod the vast cou… — The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of I… · tree and pragmatics
description: Meantime the Red-Branch Knights, like men in sleep Trod the vast courts; or like some shepherd boor Who feels his way on cliffs that crest the deep When mist invests the mountain and the moor; Or stood and gazed from far on Deirdré’s brow-- Strong knights of old; men ineffectual now. Who acts: Meant
---

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# The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 6, sentence 96

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Meantime the Red-Branch Knights, like men in sleep Trod the vast courts; or like some shepherd boor Who feels his way on cliffs that crest the deep When mist invests the mountain and the moor; Or stood and gazed from far on Deirdré’s brow-- Strong knights of old; men ineffectual now.

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**Who acts:** Meantime, shepherd boor, cliffs, mist · **What happens:** tread, feel, crest, invest, stand, gaze · **To what, where:** vast courts, way, cliffs, deep, mountain, men

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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 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Meantime, shepherd boor, cliffs, mist), 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:pg78491:6:97
# text = Meantime the Red-Branch Knights, like men in sleep Trod the vast courts; or like some shepherd boor Who feels his way on cliffs that crest the deep When mist invests the mountain and the moor; Or stood and gazed from far on Deirdré’s brow-- Strong knights of old; men ineffectual now.
1	Meantime	meantime	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	nsubj	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
3	Red	Red	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	Branch	Branch	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	compound	_	_
6	Knights	Knight	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	9	punct	_	_
8	like	like	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
9	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	nsubj	_	_
10	in	in	ADP	IN	_	11	case	_	_
11	sleep	sleep	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod	_	_
12	Trod	tread	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
13	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	15	det	_	_
14	vast	vast	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	15	amod	_	_
15	courts	court	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	_
17	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	21	cc	_	_
18	like	like	ADP	IN	_	21	case	_	_
19	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	21	det	_	_
20	shepherd	shepherd	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	21	compound	_	_
21	boor	boor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
22	Who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	23	nsubj	_	_
23	feels	feel	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	21	acl:relcl	_	_
24	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	25	nmod:poss	_	_
25	way	way	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
26	on	on	ADP	IN	_	27	case	_	_
27	cliffs	cliff	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	23	obl	_	_
28	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	29	nsubj	_	_
29	crest	crest	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	27	acl:relcl	_	_
30	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
31	deep	deep	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	29	obj	_	_
32	When	when	ADV	WRB	PronType=Int	34	advmod	_	_
33	mist	mist	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	nsubj	_	_
34	invests	invest	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	29	advcl	_	_
35	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	36	det	_	_
36	mountain	mountain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	34	obj	_	_
37	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	39	cc	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	moor	moor	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	42	punct	_	_
41	Or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	42	cc	_	_
42	stood	stand	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	conj	_	_
43	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	44	cc	_	_
44	gazed	gaze	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	42	conj	_	_
45	from	from	ADP	IN	_	46	case	_	_
46	far	far	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	44	obl	_	_
47	on	on	ADP	IN	_	50	case	_	_
48	Deirdré	Deirdré	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	50	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	’s	's	PART	POS	_	48	case	_	_
50	brow	brow	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	44	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
51	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	53	punct	_	_
52	Strong	strong	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	53	amod	_	_
53	knights	knight	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	50	conj	_	_
54	of	of	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	53	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	57	punct	_	_
57	men	man	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	42	obl	_	_
58	ineffectual	ineffectual	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	57	amod	_	_
59	now	now	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	42	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
60	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	12	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **tread** | past | Meantime | the vast courts |  |  |  | like some shepherd boor; the Branch Knights *nsubj*; men in sleep *nsubj* | vn run-51.3.2 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Initial\_Location court=Theme |
| 2 | **feel** | present | some shepherd boor | man's way |  | cliffs |  |  | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent way=Theme on cliff=Location |
| 3 | **crest** | present | cliffs | the deep |  |  |  |  | vn meander-47.7 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location deep=Theme |
| 4 | **invest** | present | mist | the mountain and the moor |  |  |  |  | vn invest-13.5.4-1 «NP V PP»: agent=Agent mountain=Goal |
| 5 | **stand** | past | Meantime *not said here* | men |  |  | now |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 6 | **gaze** | past | Meantime *not said here* |  |  | Deirdré's brow and Strong knights of old |  |  | vn peer-30.3 «NP V PP.theme»: agent=Agent from far=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:** «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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