---
title: He looked before and behind and saw no bridge, great or small, by wh… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics
description: He looked before and behind and saw no bridge, great or small, by which he might cross over, nor saw he living soul of whom he might ask, then did he delay no longer, but turned his bridle, and set his horse toward the river bank; he struck his spurs sharply and sprang into the midst of the stream. 
---

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# Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 4, sentence 82

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He looked before and behind and saw no bridge, great or small, by which he might cross over, nor saw he living soul of whom he might ask, then did he delay no longer, but turned his bridle, and set his horse toward the river bank; he struck his spurs sharply and sprang into the midst of the stream.

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**Who acts:** Gawain · **What happens:** look, see, cross over, live, ask, delay · **To what, where:** bridge, soul, bridle, horse, spurs, midst

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This is a sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, 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 (Gawain), 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:pg8447:4:82
# text = He looked before and behind and saw no bridge, great or small, by which he might cross over, nor saw he living soul of whom he might ask, then did he delay no longer, but turned his bridle, and set his horse toward the river bank; he struck his spurs sharply and sprang into the midst of the stream.
1	He	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	2	nsubj	_	_
2	looked	look	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	before	before	ADV	RB	_	2	advmod	_	_
4	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	behind	behind	ADV	RB	_	3	conj	_	_
6	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	conj	_	_
8	no	no	DET	DT	PronType=Neg	9	det	_	_
9	bridge	bridge	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	11	punct	_	_
11	great	great	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	small	small	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	19	punct	_	_
15	by	by	ADP	IN	_	16	case	_	_
16	which	which	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	19	obl	_	_
17	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	19	nsubj	_	_
18	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	19	aux	_	_
19	cross	cross	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	conj	_	_
20	over	over	ADV	RB	_	19	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	23	punct	_	_
22	nor	nor	CCONJ	CC	Polarity=Neg	23	cc	_	_
23	saw	see	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
24	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	25	nsubj	_	_
25	living	live	VERB	VBG	VerbForm=Ger	23	xcomp	_	_
26	soul	soul	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	_
27	of	of	ADP	IN	_	28	case	_	_
28	whom	whom	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	26	nmod	_	_
29	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	31	nsubj	_	_
30	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	31	aux	_	_
31	ask	ask	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	28	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
33	then	then	ADV	RB	PronType=Dem	36	advmod	_	_
34	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	aux	_	_
35	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	36	nsubj	_	_
36	delay	delay	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	25	advcl	_	_
37	no	no	ADV	RB	_	38	advmod	_	_
38	longer	long	ADV	RBR	Degree=Cmp	36	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
39	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	41	punct	_	_
40	but	but	CCONJ	CC	_	41	cc	_	_
41	turned	turn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	conj	_	_
42	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	43	nmod:poss	_	_
43	bridle	bridle	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	41	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
44	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	46	punct	_	_
45	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	46	cc	_	_
46	set	set	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	23	conj	_	_
47	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	48	nmod:poss	_	_
48	horse	horse	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obj	_	_
49	toward	toward	ADP	IN	_	52	case	_	_
50	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	52	det	_	_
51	river	river	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	52	compound	_	_
52	bank	bank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	46	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
53	;	;	PUNCT	:	_	55	punct	_	_
54	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	55	nsubj	_	_
55	struck	strike	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	2	parataxis	_	_
56	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	57	nmod:poss	_	_
57	spurs	spur	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	55	obj	_	_
58	sharply	sharply	ADV	RB	_	55	advmod	_	_
59	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	60	cc	_	_
60	sprang	spring	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	55	conj	_	_
61	into	into	ADP	IN	_	63	case	_	_
62	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	63	det	_	_
63	midst	midst	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	60	obl	_	_
64	of	of	ADP	IN	_	66	case	_	_
65	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	66	det	_	_
66	stream	stream	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	63	nmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
67	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **look** | past | Gawain |  |  |  |  | before *property* | vn stimulus\_subject-30.4 «NP V PP.attribute»: agent=Stimulus |
| 2 | **see** | past | Gawain *not said here* | no bridge |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer bridge=Stimulus |
| 3 | **cross over** | might | Gawain |  |  |  |  | which *obl*; over *property* | vn contiguous\_location-47.8-1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **see** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn comprehend-87.2-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Experiencer clause=Stimulus |
| 5 | **live** | gerund | Gawain | soul |  |  |  |  | vn lodge-46 «NP V ADV»: agent=Theme soul=Location |
| 6 | **ask** *speech: ask* | might | Gawain |  |  |  |  |  | vn inquire-37.1.2 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 7 | **delay** | past · do-support | Gawain |  |  |  | then | long *property* | vn delay-53.3-1-1 «NP V S\_ING»: agent=Agent |
| 8 | **turn** | past |  | Gawain's bridle |  |  |  |  | vn roll-51.3.1 «NP V NP.theme»: agent=Agent bridle=Theme |
| 9 | **set** | past |  | Gawain's horse |  |  |  | toward the river bank | vn other\_cos-45.4-1 «NP V NP ADJ»: agent=Patient horse=Result |
| 10 | **strike** | past | Gawain | Gawain's spurs |  |  |  | sharply *property* | vn hit-18.1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent spur=Patient |
| 11 | **spring** | past | Gawain *not said here* |  |  | the midst of the stream |  |  | vn run-51.3.2 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme into midst=Destination |
| 12 | **spur** |  | Gawain |  |  |  |  |  | nom spur «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- .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:** «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Project Gutenberg book 8447 (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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