Boys! A path! Extreme ellipsis

We recently had quite a snowstorm and I found myself remembering my dad's frequent quoting of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Snowbound". Dad did not often read or quote poetry, but he would say, "Boys! A path!", which comes from that poem. It had obviously amused him once that there would have been a time when that was all a father had to say.
Three words, two nouns and an adjective (indefinite article) , and yet a complete thought. To see if it would still work, I tried it on my son and said, "What would you say if I said to you, 'Boy! A path!'? He is skilled at hyperbole and said that he wouldn't SAY anything, but go make that path by plowing it with my face! Ah! Times have changed.
Anyway, there is a sentence for analysis -- "Boys! A path".