the <joyfully> out poured songs of the birds

[amanda_45]

Hi dear friends!
I can't understand the meaning of following sentence and usage of joyfully? Is it an adverb or an adjective?

"he seemed to have caught the happy movement, the joyfully out poured songs of the birds in the trees outside the window, and put them in to his music."

<<It is from a didactic book " Intermediate 2" It is chosen from one of readings of it " Ludwig van Beethoven">>

 

[owlman5]

"Joyfully" is an adverb, Amanda.

 

[Copyright]

I always get in trouble when I enter GrammarLand -- no visa -- but I'll suggest that "joyfully" is an adverb modifying the adjective "out-poured" (which I find easier to understand with a hyphen).

"out-poured" refers to the songs that the birds "poured out of their mouths," while "caught" means "captured (heard and remembered)" for later use in his music.

Now we'll wait for someone with a visa.

 

[Parla]

"Caught" in this quotation has already been explained in another thread (it was answered after you posted this one):
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2850834

There's a typo. "Out poured" is a single word, outpoured, an adjective modifying the noun songs. It's figurative. The writer is essentially comparing the songs pouring out from the birds' throats to water gushing from a fountain.

(There's another typo later in the sentence; into should also be one word.)

Cross-posted with Copyright.

 

[amanda_45]

thanks for your good answer

 

[EStjarn]

Perhaps you're asking because the sentence incorrectly says "out poured" instead of "outpoured."

"Outpoured" is not really an adjective, but a past participle of the verb "outpour," here acting as an adjective.

I agree with owlman5 that "joyfully" is an adverb.