---
title: From the pine-tops the screech owl Screams and flaps his wide wings… — Legends of the Northwest · tree and pragmatics
description: From the pine-tops the screech owl Screams and flaps his wide wings in affright, and plunges away through the shadows; And swift on the wings of the night flee the dim, phantom forms of the spirit. A sentence of «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, The Feast of the Virgins., part 6, 
---

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# Legends of the Northwest, The Feast of the Virgins., part 6, sentence 14

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From the pine-tops the screech owl Screams and flaps his wide wings in affright, and plunges away through the shadows; And swift on the wings of the night flee the dim, phantom forms of the spirit.

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**What happens:** flap, plunge away, swift, flee, form · **To what, where:** wide wings, shadows, wings, dim phantom forms, pine tops, spirit

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This is a sentence of «Legends of the Northwest» by Hanford Lennox Gordon, The Feast of the Virgins., part 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: 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:pg8122:13:14
# text = From the pine-tops the screech owl Screams and flaps his wide wings in affright, and plunges away through the shadows; And swift on the wings of the night flee the dim, phantom forms of the spirit.
1	From	from	ADP	IN	_	5	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
3	pine	pine	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	compound	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	-	-	PUNCT	HYPH	_	3	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	tops	top	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	0	root	_	_
6	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
7	screech	screech	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	compound	_	_
8	owl	owl	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nsubj	_	_
9	Screams	Scream	PROPN	NNPS	Number=Plur	5	appos	_	_
10	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	11	cc	_	_
11	flaps	flap	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	9	conj	_	_
12	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	14	nmod:poss	_	_
13	wide	wide	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	14	amod	_	_
14	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obj	_	_
15	in	in	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	affright	affright	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
18	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	19	cc	_	_
19	plunges	plunge	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	conj	_	_
20	away	away	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	_
21	through	through	ADP	IN	_	23	case	_	_
22	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	23	det	_	_
23	shadows	shadow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	19	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
24	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	26	punct	_	_
25	And	and	CCONJ	CC	_	26	cc	_	_
26	swift	swift	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	5	parataxis	_	_
27	on	on	ADP	IN	_	29	case	_	_
28	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	29	det	_	_
29	wings	wing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	26	obl	_	_
30	of	of	ADP	IN	_	32	case	_	_
31	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	32	det	_	_
32	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nmod	_	_
33	flee	flee	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	26	conj	_	_
34	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	38	det	_	_
35	dim	dim	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	SpaceAfter=No
36	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	35	punct	_	_
37	phantom	phantom	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	38	amod	_	_
38	forms	form	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	33	obj	_	_
39	of	of	ADP	IN	_	41	case	_	_
40	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	41	det	_	_
41	spirit	spirit	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	38	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **flap** | present |  | owl's wide wings |  |  |  | in affright | vn crane-40.3.2 «NP V NP PP.recipient PP.theme»: agent=Agent wing=Patient in affright=Topic |
| 2 | **plunge away** | present |  |  |  | the shadows |  | away *property* | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme through shadow=Initial\_Location |
| 3 | **swift** | infinitive |  |  |  | the wings of the night |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **flee** | infinitive |  | the dim phantom forms of the spirit |  |  |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Theme form=Initial\_Location |
| 6 | **form** |  |  | the spirit |  |  |  |  | nom form «communication 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:** «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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