(A.) WISH.
1540. The subjunctive may be used to express a wish.
Wishes are often introduced by #utinam#, in old and poetical Latin also
by #utī#, #ut#, and curses in old Latin by #quī#; these words were
originally interrogative, _how_. Sometimes the wish is limited by
#modo#, _only_. In negative wishes #nē# is used, either alone, or
preceded by #utinam# or #modo#; rarely #nōn#, or the old-fashioned
#nec#, _not_ (1446).
1541. (1.) The present and perfect represent a wish as practicable;
although a hopeless wish may, of course, if the speaker chooses, be
represented as practicable: as,
(_a._) #tē spectem, suprēma mihī cum vēnerit hōra#, Tib. 1, 1, 59, _on
thee I’d gaze, when my last hour shall come_. #utinam illum diem
videam#, _Att._ 3, 3, _I hope I may see the day_. (_b._) #utinam
cōnēre#, _Ph._ 2, 101, _I hope you may make the effort_. (_c._) #dī
vortant bene quod agās#, T. _Hec._ 196, _may gods speed well whate’er
you undertake_. #quī illum dī omnēs perduint#, T. _Ph._ 123, _him may
all gods fordo_. #ō utinam hībernae duplicentur tempora brūmae#, Prop.
1, 8, 9, _oh that the winter’s time may doubled be_. #utinam revīvīscat
frāter#, Gell. 10, 6, 2, _I hope my brother may rise from his grave_.
#nē istūc Iuppiter sīrit#, L. 28, 28, 11, _now Jupiter forefend_. The
perfect is found principally in old Latin.
1542. The present is very common in asseveration: as,
#peream, nisi sollicitus sum#, _Fam._ 15, 19, 4, _may I die, if I am not
worried_. #sollicitat, ita vīvam, me tua valētūdō#, _Fam._ 16, 20, _your
state of health worries me, as I hope to live_. #ita vīvam, ut maximōs
sūmptūs faciō#, _Att._ 5, 15, 2, _as I hope to be saved, I am making
great outlays_. See also 1622.
1543. The perfect subjunctive sometimes refers to past action now
completed: as, #utinam abierit malam crucem#, Pl. _Poen._ 799, _I hope
he’s got him to the bitter cross_ (1165). #utinam spem implēverim#,
Plin. _Ep._ 1, 10, 3, _I hope I may have fulfilled the expectations_.
1544. (2.) The imperfect represents a wish as hopeless in the present or
immediate future, the pluperfect represents it as unfulfilled in the
past: as,
(_a._) #tēcum lūdere sīcut ipsa possem#, Cat. 2, 9, _could I with thee
but play, e’en as thy mistress’ self_, to Lesbia’s sparrow. #utinam ego
tertius vōbīs amīcus adscrīberer#, _TD._ 5, 63, _would that I could be
enrolled with you myself, as the third friend_, says tyrant Dionysius to
Damon and Phintias. (_b._) #utinam mē mortuum prius vīdissēs#, _QFr._ 1,
3, 1, _I wish you had seen me dead first_. (_c._) #utinam nē in nemore
Pēliō secūribus caesa accēdisset abiēgna ad terram trabēs#, E. in
Cornif. 2, 34, _had but, in Pelion’s grove, by axes felled, ne’er fallen
to the earth the beam of fir_, i.e. for the Argo. #utinam ille omnīs
sēcum cōpiās ēdūxisset#, _C._ 2, 4, _I only wish the man had marched out
all his train-bands with him_.
1545. In old or poetical Latin, the imperfect sometimes denotes
unfulfilled past action, like the usual pluperfect; as, #utinam in
Siciliā perbīterēs#, Pl. _R._ 494, _would thou hadst died in Sicily_.
#utinam tē dī prius perderent#, Pl. _Cap._ 537, _I wish the gods had cut
thee off before_. See 2075.
1546. In poetry, a wish is sometimes thrown into the form of a
conditional protasis with #sī# or #ō sī#: as, #ō sī urnam argentī fōrs
quae mihi mōnstret#, H. _S._ 2, 6, 10, _oh if some chance a pot of money
may to me reveal_.
(B.) EXHORTATION, DIRECTION, STATEMENT OF PROPRIETY.
1547. The subjunctive may be used to express an exhortation,
a direction, or a statement of propriety.
The subjunctive of exhortation is sometimes preceded in old Latin by
#utī# or #ut#, originally interrogative. In negative exhortations or
directions, #nē#, #nēmō#, #nihil#, or #numquam#, &c., is used, rarely
#nōn#.
1548. (1.) The present expresses what is to be done or is not to be done
in the future: as,
(_a._) #hoc quod coepī prīmum ēnārrem#, T. _Hau._ 273, _first let me
tell the story I’ve begun_. #taceam nunc iam#, Pl. _B._ 1058, _let me
now hold my tongue_. #cōnsīdāmus hīc in umbrā#, _Leg._ 2, 7, _let us sit
down here in the shade_. #nē difficilia optēmus#, _V._ 4, 15, _let us
not hanker after impossibilities_. (_b._) HAICE · VTEI · IN ·
COVENTIONID · EXDEICATIS, CIL. I, 196, 23, _this you are to proclaim in
public assembly_. (_c._) #nōmina dēclīnāre et verba in prīmīs puerī
sciant#, Quintil. 1, 4, 22, _first and foremost boys are to know how to
inflect nouns and verbs_. #utī adserventur magnā dīligentiā#, Pl. _Cap._
115, _let them be watched with all due care_. #nē quis tamquam parva
fastīdiat grammaticēs elementa#, Quintil. 1, 4, 6, _let no man look down
on the rudiments of grammar fancying them insignificant_.
1549. (2.) The perfect subjunctive is rare: as, #idem dictum sit#,
Quintil. 1, 1, 8, _the same be said, once for all_. Mostly in
prohibitions: as, #morātus sit nēmō quō minus abeant#, L. 9, 11, 13,
_let no man hinder them from going away_.
1550. In positive commands, the second person singular often has a
definite subject in old or epistolary Latin, and particularly #sīs#, for
the imperative #es# or #estō#. Usually however an indefinite subject
(1030): as,
(_a._) #eās#, Pl. _R._ 519, _be off_. #hīc apud nōs hodiē cēnēs#, Pl.
_Most._ 1129, _dine here with us today_. #cautus sīs, mī Tirō#, _Fam._
16, 9, 4, _you must be careful, dear Tiro_. (_b._) #istō bonō ūtāre, dum
adsit#, _CM._ 33, _enjoy this blessing while you have it with you_.
1551. When a prohibition is expressed in the subjunctive, the second
person of the present is often used in old Latin, sometimes the perfect.
Later, however, the perfect is generally prevalent. In the classical
period, the present is almost confined to poetry. For the imperative in
prohibitions, see 1581-1586.
(_a._) #nē illum verberēs#, Pl. _B._ 747, _you mustn’t thrash the man_.
Once in Horace: #nē sīs patruos mihī#, _S._ 2, 3, 88, _don’t play stern
governor to me_. (_b._) #nē trānsierīs Ibērum#, L. 21, 44, 6, _do not
cross the Iberus_. #quod dubitās nē fēcerīs#, Plin. _Ep._ 1, 18, 5,
_what you have doubt about, never do_.
1552. (3.) The imperfect or (but not in old Latin) pluperfect
subjunctive is sometimes used to express past obligation or necessity:
as,
(_a._) Imperfect: #quae hīc erant cūrārēs#, T. _Hec._ 230, _thou
shouldst have looked to matters here_. #paterētur#, T. _Hau._ 202, _he
should have stood it_. #quod sī meīs incommodīs laetābantur, urbis tamen
perīculō commovērentur#, _Sest._ 54, _well, if they did gloat over my
mishaps, still they ought to have been touched by the danger to Rome_.
#crās īrēs potius#, Pl. _Per._ 710, _you’d better have gone tomorrow_,
i.e. have resolved to go tomorrow. #poenās penderēs#, Pl. _B._ 427,
_thou hadst to pay a penalty_. (_b._) Pluperfect: #restitissēs,
rēpugnāssēs, mortem pugnāns oppetīssēs#, Poet. in _Sest._ 45, _thou
shouldst have made a stand, fought back, and fighting met thy fate_.
#quid facere dēbuistī? frūmentum nē ēmissēs#, _V._ 3, 195, _what ought
you to have done? you should not have bought any wheat_. Usually,
however, past obligation or necessity is expressed by the gerundive
construction, or by some separate verb meaning _ought_ (1496).
[Errata:
1548a ... Quintil. 1, 4, 22,
22.
#utī adserventur magnā dīligentiā#,
. for ,
Quintil. 1, 4, 6
. invisible]
(C.) WILLINGNESS, ASSUMPTION, CONCESSION.
1553. The subjunctive of desire may be used to denote willingness,
assumption, or concession: as,
#ōderint dum metuant#, Poet. in Suet. _Cal._ 30, _they are welcome to
hate, as long as they fear_. #nē sit sānē summum malum dolor, malum
certē est#, _TD._ 2, 14, _grant for aught I care that pain is not the
worst evil, an evil it certainly is_. #nīl fēcerit, estō#, J. 6, 222,
_he may be guiltless, be it so_.
[Erratum:
1553 ... #nē sit sānē summum malum dolor, malum certē est#,
#certē est#.]