---
title: No longer he handles the spear, --no longer his swift, humming arrow… — Legends of the Northwest · tree and pragmatics
description: No longer he handles the spear, --no longer his swift, humming arrows Overtake the fleet feet of the deer, or the bear of the woods, or the bison; But he bends as he walks, and the wind shakes his white hair and hinders his footsteps; And soon will he leave me behind, without brother or sister or ki
---

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# Legends of the Northwest, The Feast of the Virgins., part 5, sentence 17

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No longer he handles the spear, --no longer his swift, humming arrows Overtake the fleet feet of the deer, or the bear of the woods, or the bison; But he bends as he walks, and the wind shakes his white hair and hinders his footsteps; And soon will he leave me behind, without brother or sister or kindred.

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**Who acts:** chief, arrows, wind · **What happens:** handle, hum, overtake, bend, walk, shake · **To what, where:** spear, bear, fleet feet, white hair, footsteps, me

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, The Feast of the Virgins., part 5. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (chief, arrows, wind), 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:pg8122:12:17
# text = No longer he handles the spear, --no longer his swift, humming arrows Overtake the fleet feet of the deer, or the bear of the woods, or the bison; But he bends as he walks, and the wind shakes his white hair and hinders his footsteps; And soon will he leave me behind, without brother or sister or kindred.
1	No	no	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
2	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	4	advmod	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	4	nsubj	_	_
4	handles	handle	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	spear	spear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	_
8	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	12	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	no	no	ADV	RB	_	10	advmod	_	_
10	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	12	advmod	_	_
11	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	12	nmod:poss	_	_
12	swift	swift	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	14	punct	_	_
14	humming	hum	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	4	advcl	_	_
15	arrows	arrow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	nsubj	_	_
16	Overtake	overtake	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	14	ccomp	_	_
17	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	19	det	_	_
18	fleet	fleet	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	19	amod	_	_
19	feet	foot	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	16	obj	_	_
20	of	of	ADP	IN	_	22	case	_	_
21	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	22	det	_	_
22	deer	deer	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	26	punct	_	_
24	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
25	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	26	det	_	_
26	bear	bear	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	obl	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	woods	wood	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
30	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	33	punct	_	_
31	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	33	cc	_	_
32	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	33	det	_	_
33	bison	bison	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	26	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
34	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	37	punct	_	_
35	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	37	cc	_	_
36	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	37	nsubj	_	_
37	bends	bend	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	4	conj	_	_
38	as	as	SCONJ	IN	_	40	mark	_	_
39	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	40	nsubj	_	_
40	walks	walk	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	37	advcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
41	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	45	punct	_	_
42	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	45	cc	_	_
43	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	44	det	_	_
44	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	nsubj	_	_
45	shakes	shake	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	37	advcl	_	_
46	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	48	nmod:poss	_	_
47	white	white	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	48	amod	_	_
48	hair	hair	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	45	obj	_	_
49	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	50	cc	_	_
50	hinders	hinder	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	45	conj	_	_
51	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	52	nmod:poss	_	_
52	footsteps	footstep	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	50	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	58	punct	_	_
54	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	58	cc	_	_
55	soon	soon	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	58	advmod	_	_
56	will	will	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	58	aux	_	_
57	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	58	nsubj	_	_
58	leave	leave	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	4	parataxis	_	_
59	me	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	58	obj	_	_
60	behind	behind	ADV	RB	_	58	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
61	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	63	punct	_	_
62	without	without	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
63	brother	brother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	58	obl	_	_
64	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	65	cc	_	_
65	sister	sister	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	63	conj	_	_
66	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	67	cc	_	_
67	kindred	kindred	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	63	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
68	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **handle** | present | chief | the spear |  |  |  | chief's swift *obl*; long *property* | vn hold-15.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spear=Theme |
| 2 | **hum** | gerund | chief *not said here* | the bear of the woods or the bison |  |  |  |  | vn manner\_speaking-37.3 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent clause=Topic |
| 3 | **overtake** | present | arrows | the fleet feet of the deer |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **bend** | present | chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 5 | **walk** | present | chief |  |  |  |  |  | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 6 | **shake** | present | the wind | chief's white hair |  |  |  |  | vn shake-22.3-2 «NP V NP together»: agent=Agent hair=Patient |
| 7 | **hinder** | present | the wind *not said here* | chief's footsteps |  |  |  |  | vn discourage-64.5-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Causer footstep=Eventuality |
| 8 | **leave** | future | chief | me |  |  |  | without brother or sister; behind, soon *property* | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent i=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:** «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, Project Gutenberg book 8122 (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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