[THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD.]
Declarations.
[I. THE SUBJUNCTIVE OF DESIRE.]
[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].