---
title: Fiercer they were, not manlier, than the Gael, Large-handed, swift o… — The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of I… · tree and pragmatics
description: Fiercer they were, not manlier, than the Gael, Large-handed, swift of foot, dark-haired, dark-eyed, With sudden gleams athwart their faces pale, Transits of fancies swift, or angry pride: Strange lore they boasted, imped by insight keen; Blackened at times by gusts of causeless spleen. Who acts: gif
---

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[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg78491/7/106/)

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# The foray of Queen Meave, and other legends of Ireland's heroic age, Opening, part 7, sentence 106

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Fiercer they were, not manlier, than the Gael, Large-handed, swift of foot, dark-haired, dark-eyed, With sudden gleams athwart their faces pale, Transits of fancies swift, or angry pride: Strange lore they boasted, imped by insight keen; Blackened at times by gusts of causeless spleen.

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**Who acts:** gifts, Transits · **What happens:** not be, hand, swift, boast, imp, blacken · **To what, where:** swift, angry pride, Strange lore

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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 7. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (gifts, Transits), 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:pg78491:7:110
# text = Fiercer they were, not manlier, than the Gael, Large-handed, swift of foot, dark-haired, dark-eyed, With sudden gleams athwart their faces pale, Transits of fancies swift, or angry pride: Strange lore they boasted, imped by insight keen; Blackened at times by gusts of causeless spleen.
1	Fiercer	fierce	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	6	advcl	_	_
2	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	6	nsubj	_	_
3	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	6	punct	_	_
5	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	6	advmod	_	_
6	manlier	manly	ADJ	JJR	Degree=Cmp	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	than	than	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	Gael	Gael	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	6	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
12	Large	large	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	handed	hand	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	swift	swift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obj	_	_
17	of	of	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
18	foot	foot	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
20	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	20	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
22	haired	haired	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	parataxis	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	dark	dark	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	26	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
25	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	24	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	eyed	eyed	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
27	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	30	punct	_	_
28	With	with	ADP	IN	_	30	case	_	_
29	sudden	sudden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	_
30	gleams	gleam	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	14	obl	_	_
31	athwart	athwart	ADP	IN	_	33	case	_	_
32	their	their	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Number=Plur|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	33	nmod:poss	_	_
33	faces	face	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	30	nmod	_	_
34	pale	pale	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	30	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
36	Transits	transit	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	39	nsubj	_	_
37	of	of	ADP	IN	_	38	case	_	_
38	fancies	fancy	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	nmod	_	_
39	swift	swift	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	30	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
40	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	43	punct	_	_
41	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	43	cc	_	_
42	angry	angry	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	43	amod	_	_
43	pride	pride	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	46	punct	_	_
45	Strange	strange	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	46	amod	_	_
46	lore	lore	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	43	appos	_	_
47	they	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	48	nsubj	_	_
48	boasted	boast	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	46	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
49	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	50	punct	_	_
50	imped	imp	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	46	acl	_	_
51	by	by	ADP	IN	_	53	case	_	_
52	insight	insight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	53	compound	_	_
53	keen	keen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	50	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
54	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	55	punct	_	_
55	Blackened	blacken	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	6	advcl	_	_
56	at	at	ADP	IN	_	57	case	_	_
57	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	55	obl	_	_
58	by	by	ADP	IN	_	59	case	_	_
59	gusts	gust	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	55	obl	_	_
60	of	of	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
61	causeless	causeless	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	62	amod	_	_
62	spleen	spleen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
63	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **is** | past | gifts *= gift* |  |  |  |  | than the Gael; manly *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **hand** | participle | gifts *= gift* *not said here* | swift of foot |  |  |  | with sudden gleams athwart gifts's faces | vn send-11.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent swift=Theme |
| 3 | **swift** | present | Transits of fancies | angry pride |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **boast** *speech: other* | past | Transits *= transit* | Strange lore *not said here* |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 5 | **imp** | participle |  | Strange lore *not said here* |  |  |  | by insight keen | tree rules |
| 6 | **blacken** | participle | gifts *= gift* *not said here* |  |  |  | time | by gusts of causeless spleen | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP.patient V»: agent=Patient |

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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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