---
title: But ere he might smite three blows that sword brake, as it were tin-… — Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English… · tree and pragmatics
description: But ere he might smite three blows that sword brake, as it were tin--this was an ill beginning would a man defend his life. Who acts: Sir, three blows, brake, this. A sentence of «Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch» by Jessie L. Weston, Opening, part 6, wi
---

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# Morien: A Metrical Romance Rendered into English Prose from the Mediæval Dutch, Opening, part 6, sentence 93

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But ere he might smite three blows that sword brake, as it were tin--this was an ill beginning would a man defend his life.

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**Who acts:** Sir, three blows, brake, this, tin · **What happens:** ere, smite, sword, be, defend · **To what, where:** three blows, brake, ill beginning, life

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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 6. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (Sir, three blows, brake, this), 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:pg8447:6:93
# text = But ere he might smite three blows that sword brake, as it were tin--this was an ill beginning would a man defend his life.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	2	cc	_	_
2	ere	ere	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
3	he	he	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	5	nsubj	_	_
4	might	might	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	5	aux	_	_
5	smite	smite	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	ccomp	_	_
6	three	three	NUM	CD	NumForm=Word|NumType=Card	7	nummod	_	_
7	blows	blow	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	5	obj	_	_
8	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	9	nsubj	_	_
9	sword	sword	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	acl:relcl	_	_
10	brake	brake	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	15	punct	_	_
12	as	as	ADP	IN	_	15	case	_	_
13	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	15	nsubj	_	_
14	were	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	15	cop	_	_
15	tin	tin	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
16	--	--	PUNCT	,	_	21	punct	_	SpaceAfter=No
17	this	this	PRON	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	21	nsubj	_	_
18	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	21	cop	_	_
19	an	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	21	det	_	_
20	ill	ill	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	21	amod	_	_
21	beginning	beginning	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	15	conj	_	_
22	would	would	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	25	aux	_	_
23	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	24	det	_	_
24	man	man	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	nsubj	_	_
25	defend	defend	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
26	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	27	nmod:poss	_	_
27	life	life	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	25	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
28	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

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| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **ere** | past |  |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **smite** | might | Sir | three blows |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V NP»: agent=Stimulus blow=Experiencer |
| 3 | **sword** | present | three blows | brake |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **is** | past | brake |  |  |  |  | as tin and a ill beginning | tree rules |
| 5 | **is a** | past | this | a ill beginning |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 6 | **defend** | would | tin and a ill beginning | Sir's life |  |  |  | a man *nsubj* | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent life=Beneficiary |

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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:** «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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