---
title: But I wonder what sort of stuff this torch was made of; for it burne… — Tanglewood Tales · tree and pragmatics
description: But I wonder what sort of stuff this torch was made of; for it burned dimly through the day, and, at night, was as bright as ever, and never was extinguished by the rain or wind, in all the weary days and nights while Ceres was seeking for Proserpina. Who acts: I, stuff, torch, night. A sentence of 
---

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# Tanglewood Tales, The Pomegranate Seeds., part 2, sentence 81

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But I wonder what sort of stuff this torch was made of; for it burned dimly through the day, and, at night, was as bright as ever, and never was extinguished by the rain or wind, in all the weary days and nights while Ceres was seeking for Proserpina.

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**Who acts:** I, stuff, torch, night, rain, Ceres · **What happens:** wonder, make, burn, be, not extinguish, seek · **To what, where:** sort, torch, stuff

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This is a sentence of «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Pomegranate Seeds., part 2. The page gives its syntax tree — a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies — and its pragmatics clause by clause: who acts (I, stuff, torch, night), what happens, when and where, as Mova's frames read it from the tree.

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**Parsed by Mova, not checked by a teacher.** This tree is Mova's own parse (the `en` model, on the CPU, when the site is built); it may be wrong.

## The tree {#tree}

```conllu
# sent_id = book:pg976:21:81
# text = But I wonder what sort of stuff this torch was made of; for it burned dimly through the day, and, at night, was as bright as ever, and never was extinguished by the rain or wind, in all the weary days and nights while Ceres was seeking for Proserpina.
1	But	but	CCONJ	CC	_	3	cc	_	_
2	I	I	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Number=Sing|Person=1|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
3	wonder	wonder	VERB	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	what	what	DET	WDT	PronType=Int	5	det	_	_
5	sort	sort	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
6	of	of	ADP	IN	_	7	case	_	_
7	stuff	stuff	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nmod	_	_
8	this	this	DET	DT	Number=Sing|PronType=Dem	9	det	_	_
9	torch	torch	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj:pass	_	_
10	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	11	aux:pass	_	_
11	made	make	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	7	acl:relcl	_	_
12	of	of	ADP	IN	_	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	;	;	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
14	for	for	SCONJ	IN	_	16	mark	_	_
15	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	16	nsubj	_	_
16	burned	burn	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	parataxis	_	_
17	dimly	dimly	ADV	RB	_	16	advmod	_	_
18	through	through	ADP	IN	_	20	case	_	_
19	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	20	det	_	_
20	day	day	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
21	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	29	punct	_	_
22	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	29	cc	_	SpaceAfter=No
23	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
24	at	at	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	night	night	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	29	nsubj	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	25	punct	_	_
27	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	29	cop	_	_
28	as	as	ADV	RB	_	29	advmod	_	_
29	bright	bright	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	16	conj	_	_
30	as	as	ADP	IN	_	31	case	_	_
31	ever	ever	ADV	RB	PronType=Ind	29	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
32	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	36	punct	_	_
33	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	36	cc	_	_
34	never	never	ADV	RB	PronType=Neg	36	advmod	_	_
35	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	36	aux:pass	_	_
36	extinguished	extinguish	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	3	conj	_	_
37	by	by	ADP	IN	_	39	case	_	_
38	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	39	det	_	_
39	rain	rain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	36	obl	_	_
40	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	41	cc	_	_
41	wind	wind	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	39	conj	_	SpaceAfter=No
42	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	47	punct	_	_
43	in	in	ADP	IN	_	47	case	_	_
44	all	all	DET	PDT	PronType=Tot	47	det:predet	_	_
45	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	47	det	_	_
46	weary	weary	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	47	amod	_	_
47	days	day	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	36	obl	_	_
48	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	49	cc	_	_
49	nights	night	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	47	conj	_	_
50	while	while	SCONJ	IN	_	53	mark	_	_
51	Ceres	Ceres	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	53	nsubj	_	_
52	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	53	aux	_	_
53	seeking	seek	VERB	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	36	advcl	_	_
54	for	for	ADP	IN	_	55	case	_	_
55	Proserpina	Proserpina	PROPN	NNP	Number=Sing	53	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
56	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

## Pragmatics {#pragmatics}

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **wonder** *speech: ask* | present | I | what sort of stuff |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **make** | past · passive | stuff *not said here* | this torch |  |  |  |  | vn build-26.1-1 «NP.asset V NP»: subject=Product |
| 3 | **burn** | past | torch |  |  |  | day | dimly *property* | vn light\_emission-43.1 «NP V»: agent=Theme |
| 4 | **is** | past | night |  |  |  |  | bright *property* | tree rules |
| 5 | **not** **extinguish** | past · passive | the rain or wind |  |  |  | day |  | vn remedy-45.7-1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Patient |
| 6 | **seek** | past · progressive | Ceres |  |  |  |  | for Proserpina | vn hunt-35.1 «NP V PP.theme PP.location»: agent=Agent for proserpina=Theme |
| 7 | **sort** |  |  | stuff |  |  |  |  | nom sort «cognition transitive»: of=patient |

<!-- .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:** «Tanglewood Tales» by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Project Gutenberg book 976 (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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