---
title: A perfect epic is only possible when the critical spirit begins to b… — Early Bardic Literature, Ireland. · tree and pragmatics
description: A perfect epic is only possible when the critical spirit begins to be in the ascendant, for with the critical spirit comes that distrust and apathy towards the spontaneous literature of early times, which permit some great poet so to shape and alter the old materials as to construct a harmonious and
---

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# Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., part 4, sentence 71

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A perfect epic is only possible when the critical spirit begins to be in the ascendant, for with the critical spirit comes that distrust and apathy towards the spontaneous literature of early times, which permit some great poet so to shape and alter the old materials as to construct a harmonious and internally consistent tale, observing throughout a sense of proportion and a due relation of the parts.

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**Who acts:** perfect epic, critical spirit, early times · **What happens:** be, begin, come, permit, shape, alter · **To what, where:** ascendant, distrust, great poet, old materials, harmonious tale, proportion

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This is a sentence of «Early Bardic Literature, Ireland.» by Standish O'Grady, Early Bardic Literature, Ireland., part 4. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (perfect epic, critical spirit, early times), 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:pg8109:4:71
# text = A perfect epic is only possible when the critical spirit begins to be in the ascendant, for with the critical spirit comes that distrust and apathy towards the spontaneous literature of early times, which permit some great poet so to shape and alter the old materials as to construct a harmonious and internally consistent tale, observing throughout a sense of proportion and a due relation of the parts.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	perfect	perfect	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	epic	epic	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
4	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
5	only	only	ADV	RB	_	6	advmod	_	_
6	possible	possible	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
7	when	when	SCONJ	WRB	_	11	mark	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
9	critical	critical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	10	amod	_	_
10	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
11	begins	begin	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	advcl	_	_
12	to	to	PART	TO	_	16	mark	_	_
13	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	16	cop	_	_
14	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
15	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	16	det	_	_
16	ascendant	ascendant	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
18	for	for	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
19	with	with	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
20	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
21	critical	critical	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	22	amod	_	_
22	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	nsubj	_	_
23	comes	come	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	16	conj	_	_
24	that	that	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	25	det	_	_
25	distrust	distrust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obj	_	_
26	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	27	cc	_	_
27	apathy	apathy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	conj	_	_
28	towards	towards	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
29	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	31	det	_	_
30	spontaneous	spontaneous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	31	amod	_	_
31	literature	literature	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	23	obl	_	_
32	of	of	ADP	IN	_	34	case	_	_
33	early	early	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	34	amod	_	_
34	times	time	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	31	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
35	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	37	punct	_	_
36	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	37	nsubj	_	_
37	permit	permit	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	34	acl:relcl	_	_
38	some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	40	det	_	_
39	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	40	amod	_	_
40	poet	poet	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	37	obj	_	_
41	so	so	ADV	RB	_	43	advmod	_	_
42	to	to	PART	TO	_	43	mark	_	_
43	shape	shape	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	37	advcl	_	_
44	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	_
45	alter	alter	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	43	conj	_	_
46	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	48	det	_	_
47	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	amod	_	_
48	materials	material	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	45	obj	_	_
49	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	51	mark	_	_
50	to	to	PART	TO	_	51	mark	_	_
51	construct	construct	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	45	advcl	_	_
52	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	57	det	_	_
53	harmonious	harmonious	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	57	amod	_	_
54	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	56	cc	_	_
55	internally	internally	ADV	RB	_	56	advmod	_	_
56	consistent	consistent	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	53	conj	_	_
57	tale	tale	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	51	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
58	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	59	punct	_	_
59	observing	observe	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	51	advcl	_	_
60	throughout	throughout	ADP	IN	_	62	case	_	_
61	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	62	det	_	_
62	sense	sense	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	59	obl	_	_
63	of	of	ADP	IN	_	64	case	_	_
64	proportion	proportion	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	62	nmod	_	_
65	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	68	cc	_	_
66	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	68	det	_	_
67	due	due	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	68	amod	_	_
68	relation	relation	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	64	conj	_	_
69	of	of	ADP	IN	_	71	case	_	_
70	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	71	det	_	_
71	parts	part	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	68	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
72	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | present | a perfect epic |  |  |  |  | possible *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **begin** | present | the critical spirit |  |  |  |  |  | vn begin-55.1-1-1 «NP.eventuality V»: agent=Eventuality |
| 3 | **is** | to-infinitive | the critical spirit *not said here* |  |  | the ascendant |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **come** | present | the critical spirit | that distrust and apathy |  |  |  | towards the spontaneous literature of early times | vn appear-48.1.1 «PP.location V NP»: agent=Location distrust=Theme |
| 5 | **permit** | present | early times | some great poet |  |  |  |  | vn admit-64.3-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent poet=Theme |
| 6 | **shape** | to-infinitive | early times *not said here* |  |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: agent=Asset |
| 7 | **alter** | infinitive | early times *not said here* | the old materials |  |  |  |  | vn other\_cos-45.4 «NP V NP.patient»: agent=Agent material=Patient |
| 8 | **construct** | to-infinitive | early times *not said here* | a harmonious tale |  |  |  |  | vn create-26.4 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent tale=Result |
| 9 | **observe** | gerund | early times *not said here* |  |  |  | throughout a sense of proportion and a due relation of the parts |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 10 | **sense** |  |  | proportion and a due relation of the parts |  |  |  |  | nom sense «cognition transitive»: of=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:** «Early Bardic Literature, Ireland.» by Standish O'Grady, Project Gutenberg book 8109 (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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