PE 1290 S67 Mo Shi H ART MCMOniAL L4BfiA«¥- CORNELL IJNIVERSITY LIBRARY ENGUSH COLLECTION THE GIFT OF JAMES MORGAN HART PROFESSOR OF ENCJJSH ({.Z<^H3^ The Subjtmctive in Modern English Verse. r By JAMES S. SNODDY, Teacher in English, State formal School^ VALLEY QTY, NORTH DAKOTA. ^r Reprinted from "Education," Boston, March ^nd April, 190,1.. EV. l)^D.M^e»^eSf^l '-^©T^vn - qW?C| J^' 4 O THE SUBJUNCTIVE IN MODERN ENGLISH VERSE. JAMES S. SNODDY, TEACHER IN ENGLISH, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, VALLEY CITY, NORTH DAKOTA. IT is maintained by many that since the subjunctive is not »found as frequently in modern English prose as it was in our prose literature a few centuries ago, it should be excluded from the classification and treatment of mood in our text-books.* True, the subjunctive is not found as frequently in modern English prose as it was in our prose literature, of the Chaucer- rian, or the Elizabethan period ; but whenever the nicer shades of thought are to be expressed, it must be used. In much of our modern prose there are meanings which could not be expressed except by using the subjunctive. This is true not only of articles found in our best literary periodicals and magazines, but is also true of newspaper editorials. Note, for example, the following : — " The trust evil comes home to every one — be he manufacturer, merchant, laborer, or salaried ma.n."~-Minneafolis Times, Feb. 23, i8gg. "If this surmise be correct he may object to the nomination of the source named." — Ibid., April i, i8gg. " It is enough to know for the, moment that war exists, and that America is so deeply involved that it were easier to wade through than turn back." — Kansas City Times, March 30, i8gg. " China would better pay amnesties and purchase a peace, if she can, from the foreign nations." — Ibid., August i, igoo. " If this news be true it would imply the correctness of the reports of the arrival of Admiral Seymour at Peking." — TVew Tor& World, June 23, igoo. " If there be an officer on the Republican (State) ticket, who if elected would strive honestly to do his duty, he would incur the enmity of the political bosses." — Grand Forks (N. Dakota) Plaindealer, July zo, igoo. ' * Mood is the manner in which something^ is predicated of the subject. The finite verb has three moods, — the indicative, which makes an assertion; the imperative, which expresses^ command,, entreaty, or request; the subjunctive, which represents something^ conceived as possible or contingent, but does not assert it as a fact. It is sometimes difficult to disting;uish the subjunc^ tive from the other two moods. In the imperative mood the subject is always in the second per. son ; in the subjunctive it is in the first, second, or third person. In the indicative, the speaker makes an assertion about something which actually exists, or which does not exist, independent of his own mind; it may be a fact or it may not be a fact; lies are always told in the indicative. In the subjunctive, the speaker expresses that which is conceived in his own mind; it may exist outside « his mind, or it may not; what he says is said in a doubting, or hesitating manner. Thus, when one says, " The bell rings" he asserts afact which his mind has perceived; but when he says, '* If the bell ring, I shall go," he expresses only an idea which his mind has conceived. The indicative, then, expresses perception; the subjunctive expresses, or rather connotes concep- tion. The indicative represents the normal function of the verb; the subjunctive, the accessory function. The greatest variety of shades of thought and feeling which cannot possibly be expressed in modern English except by using the subjunctive, are not, however, found in our modern prose, even in our best modern literary prose. In order to find them we must read our best modern English poetry. But before turning to our poets for illustrative examples of the uses of the subjunctive, let us take into consideration some of its forms and classifications. In old English there were more inflections than there are in modern English ; and the old inflectional forms were more regular for the subjunctive than they were for the indicative. Note the forms in the old, and modern inflections of the v&xhfind: — Present ■ Past L 3- I. 2. 3- I. 2. 3- OLD ENGLISH. Indicative. Pers. Sing.,find-e " " find-est " " find-eth " Plu. find-ath " find-ath find-ath Pers. Sing. ,fand " " «ljjind-e fand " Plu.^nd'*' " fund-** " " fiind-*»« MODERN ENGLISH. Subjunctive. Indicative. Subjunctive find-e find find find-e find-est find find-e find-s find find-en find find find-en find find find-en find find fund-e found found fund-e found-est found fund-e found found fund-en found found fund-en found found fund-en found found In modern English the indicative has very few inflections ; the subjunctive, as a rule, has none at all. The regular form for the subjunctive for all persons and numbers is, or should be, the same : — Pres. Past Indicative. Subjunctive. ' I. Pers Sing. , am have do be have do 2. (b " art hast dost be have do 3- ** (( is has(hath) does(doth) be have do I. il Plu. are have do be have do 2. (( t( are have do be have do . 3- '* (( are have do be have do I. Pers Sing. , was had did were had did 2. <( (( wast(wert) hadst didst were(wert)had did 3- ti (< was had did were had did I. " Plu. was- iaAM had did were had did z. (( t( -was i> had did were had did . 3' (1 C( -was " had did were had did In point of form the subjunctive is almost the perfection of simplicity ; but the form of the verb is not always an infallible criterion by which we can distinguish the subjunctive from the indicative. The main difference, in this respect, with most verbs in modern English (since the ending est for the second person has become archaic) is that the subjunctive has no 5 as ■the ending for the third person singular of the present tense. When the form of the verb fails us we have to depend upon the logical analysis of the sentence, or upon the " mood-effects" of the author made manifest in it; for, occasionally, examples of the subjunctive in inflected forms are found in our English verse. This is true especially with the verb following /^ok; and may be accounted for by the fact that the verbal inflections, which usually follow thou in the indicative, are often, through the force of habit, used after thou in the subjunctive. " If thou beest Tinculo, come forth.'' — Shakespeare : The Tempest, II. 3, 108. " If thou ieei/ he . . . thou seest . . . ." — Milton : Paradise Lost, I. 84. " Whither thou turbid wave? Whither with so much haste, As if a thief wert thou." * — Longfello-m : The Wave, I. 3. " Take heed that in thy verse Thou dost the tale rehearse." — Longfelhyw : Skeleton in Armour, st. 3. " If thou we;'/ with me, and the grave Divide us not, be with me now." — Tennyson : In Memoriam, 1. izgS- On the contrary there are many instances where the sub- junctive form of the verb be is found in the indicative in early English poetry ; but it is seldom found in our poetry later than the Elizabethan period. •(■ " What folk ben ye that at myn hoom-cominge Perturben so my feste with cryinge?" — Chaucer: Knightes Tale, I. 4'/. " For there be of them that will themselves laugh." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, III. 244. * Wert, although an inflected form, bears a closer resemblance to the subjunctive were than it does to the indicative wa5. It is, however, frequently used by modern poets in the indicative; — '* Thou vjert born on a summer morn, A mile beneath the cedar-wood . . . But thou viert nursed in somd delicious land." — Tennyson: Eleanore, II. y, II. fThe indicative he is familiar in the Bible; e.£., *' They be blind leaders of the blind," Matt. XV. 14; it is found in forty-three places in the old edition of the Common Prayer Booh; and occurs frequently in some of our modern dialects. For a discussion of this subject, see Earle's Philology of the English Tongue, p. £53 (Macmillan & Co.) . The words if, though, unless, except, etc., are often used with the subjunctive; but they are not always "signs" by which we caa distinguish it ; they are frequently followed by indicatives : — " If he vjere my friend he would come to me." (Subj.) " If he is my friend he will come to me." (Indie") " If I -were there now I should not stay.'' (Subj.) " If I am here now I shall not stay." (Indie.) " Though the law -were just, wicked people would break it." (Subj.) " Though the law was just, the wicked people broke it." (Indie.) Another difficulty met with in distinguishing the subjunctive from the indicative, is found in the tense of the verb. To say that the subjuncti-ve " implies a future contingency, but has no regular future tense," does not make the matter clear. The difficulty lies in the shifting (what the Germanic philologists call verschiebung) of the tenses : The -present subjunctive may denote either -present or future time ; for example : — " If this be true, I am sorry for it." (Present time.) " If he find this out, he will be angry." (Future time.) The past subjunctive refers to present time : — " If this -were true, I should be sorry for it.'' The past perfect subjunctive refers to past time : — " If this had been true, I should have been sorry for it."* To illustrate further : — Before yesterday .Yesterday To-day To-morrow Indie. This had been true This was true This is true This will be true Subj. If this had been true If this were true If he find this out The general tendency of the shifting seems to be a pointing toward the future of all the tenses in the subjunctive ; and a touching, as it were, of the present, and future time in the pres- ent tense. In analyzing sentences that contain verb-phrases in' which the modal auxiliaries, may, could, should, etc., ocdur, we may regard each verb-phrase as one verb expressing one mood ; or *These four iUustrivtive sent«nW5 w«re t*keo from Kittredge's The Mother Tongue, p. aoo (Ginn*Co.), ^ s .1 V we may treat may, could, should, etc., as finite verbs (in tlie indic- ative mood, or in the subjunctive mood) , and the verbs that follow^ them as infinitives. For example, in analyzing the sentence, •^'Should the messenger arrive, make him wait," should arrive may be regarded as the subjunctive, or should as the sub- junctive and arrive as an infinitive. As far as parsing is con- cerned it is only a matter of taste which plan we adopt. But in distinguishing the indicative from the subjunctive, we must study closely the special shades of meaning of these modal auxiliaries ; for the mood in the sentence or clause in which .they are used is generally implied in them. Some of them regularly imply the indicative mood ; others imply sometimes the indicative, and sometimes the subjunctive : — Present Tense. Past Tense. may, — Indicative or Subjunctive. might, — Indicative or Subjunctive. can, — Indicative. could, — Indicative or Subjunctive. shall, — Indicative. should, — Indicative or Subjunctive. ■will, — Indicative. -would, — Indicative or Subjunctive. mote, — Subjunctive (archaic). must, — Indicative. do, — Indicative or Subjunctive. did, — Indicative or Subjunctive. have, — Indicative or Subjunctive. had, — Indicative or Subjunctive Might, could, should, would, and must are, historically, old past-tense forms, but are now regarded as present or past accord- ing to the meanings implied in the verb-phrases in which they are used, or according to their meanings when used alone. Mote, the present-tense form of the old verb, motan, survives as a present subjunctive in the sentence, " So mote it be." Can, shall and -will are used in making assertions, in assuming some- thing to be true, in certain rhetorical questions, and in questions that are asked for the purpose of ascertaining facts ; hence, they always imply the indicative. But their respective old past-tense forms, could, should, and would, as well as might, sometimes imply the present indicative, sometimes the present subjunctive and sometimes the past subjunctive ; for example : — " Tlie girl wisiied that she might be a fairy." (Past subj.) "^e -would (present indie.) help him if we could." (Pres. Subj.) " Walk carefully lest you should fall." (Pres. subj.) " He begged that they -would give him bread." (Past subj.) Do and did are used as regularly as subjunctives as they are as indicatives : — "If he rfo -bleed I'll gild the faces of the grooms withal." — Shakespeare: Macbeth, II. z^ s6. " Lest your retirement do amaze your friends." — Shakespeare: Henry IV. V. 4, 3. " Did I tell this . . . who would believe me.'" — Shakespeare : Measure for Measure, II. 4, 171. Have, in the subjunctive, when used with «/" generally implies condition; with -/^o?^:^,^, concession : — "If damned custom have not blaz'd it so." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, III. 4, 37. ' " For though it have holp madmen to their wits." ' — Shakespeare: Richard II, V.,s,62. Had generally implies condition : — " What would he do, had\\& the motive?" — Shakespeare : Hamlet, II. 3, j6j. It is used as a subjunctive of mild statement in the idiomatic expressions, ">^a^ rather" and "^«rf better." Subjunctives may be classified according to their use in prin- cipal statements, or in clauses.* I. PRINCIPAL STATEMENTS. II. SUBORDINATE STATEMENTS (Clauses). 1, Imperative. I. Purpose. 2. Optative. 2. Simple Futurity. 3- Mild Statement. 3. Result or Consequence. 4- Rhetorical Questions. 4. Cause or Reason. 5. Concession. 6. Comparison. 7. Manner. 8. Indirect Questions. 9. Substantive Clauses. 10. Temporal Clauses. 11. Indefinite Relative Clauses. 12. Conditional Clauses. I. Subjunctives in Principal Statements. I. Imperative Subjunctive. • The imperative subjunctive, or subjunctive of exhortation, is rare in recent literature. It is used frequently in the Bible and in Shakespeare : — " Peace he unto you." — St. John, xx. ig. " Well, sit we down." — Hamlet., I. i, 33. " Well be with you, gentlemen." — Ibid., II. 2, i. " jffeyou and I behind the arras then." — Ibid., II. z, 163. "No more be done." — Ibid., V. i, 238. It occurs in certain established expressions, as, " 6^0 we forth," ''Be we bold," "Well, then, be it so," "■Tell me, he that knows," — expressions which are rarely used in modern prose ; we more readily say, "Let us go," " Let us be bold," " Let it be so," " Let him tell." The imperative subjunctive always has let implied with it ; and its subject is not limited with regard to person. When, however, the command, entreaty, or request is definitely in the second person, the verb is in the imperative mood and not in the subjunctive. Although the imperative subjunctive is almost obsolete in our modern literature, and especially in our modern prose, it still retains a permanent place in much of our modern verse : — • " Come one, come all, this rock shall fly From its firm base as soon as I." — Scott : The Lady of the Lake, Canto V. si. jo. " Part we in friendship from your, land, And, noble earl, receive my hand." — Scott: Marmion, Canto VI. st. 13. " Then seek we not their camp — for there The silence dwells of my despair." — Campbell: Gertrude of Wyoming, Pt. III. st.38. * For most of the divisions used in this classification, I am indebted to Professor Edward A. Allen of the University of Missouri. See his article, "The Subjunctive in English," Educa- tion, November, 1887. See also his School Grammar of the English Language, p. 143. (D. C. Heath & Co.) " Let not sceptered king Henceforth be gracious, mild and merciful v And righteous; rather be he deaf to prayer." — Bryant: Translation of Homer's Odyssey, Bk. V. st. z. " And we who till the grateful ground Fling we the golden showers around." — Bryant : Song of the Sower, I. I2. " Be the cause what it might." — Lowell : A Fable for Critics, I. J. 2. Optative Subjunctive. In the optative subjunctive a wish is always expressed. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish it from the imperative sub- junctive ; while let is always implied with the imperative sub- junctive, it is sometimes implied in a mild sense with the optative. But the optative is generally detected by having may expressed or implied. It is found frequently in the Bible ; in the Lord's Prayer it occurs three times : " Hallowed be thy name," " Thy kingdom come" " Thy will be done." It is found, in a latent sense, in many every-day expressions: Albeit {i. e., although it may be) ; g^ood bye (J. e., may God be wi' you) \ farewell {i. e., may it Jar e well with you). It is sometimes found in animated persuasive discourse ; but is found most frequently in poetry : — " And from her fair and unpolluted flesh May violets sfring." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, V. i, 263. " And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest." — Ibid., V. 2,371. "So be it when I shall grow old." — Words-worth : My Heart Leafs up when I Behold, I. j. " Proud be the rose, With rains and dew Her head impearling." — Wordsworth : To the Daisy, I. 27, " Soon be that day, my son, and deep that sea ! Till then, if fate so wills, let me endure." ' — Arnold: Sohrab and Rustum, I. 836. " Still may her flowers untrampled spring. Her harvest wave, her cities rise." — Peabody : Our Country, II. 29, 30. " Oh, save that brow its virgin dimness, JCeep that foot its lady primness." ' — Browning: Pippa Passes, II. 148, 14X). "■^ May children of our children say She wrought her people lasting good." — Tennyson: To the ^ueen, I. 23. " Fair ship . . . a favorable speed Ruffle thy mirror'd mast." — Tennyson : In Memoriam, I. 99. "-Se it ours to meditate. In these calm shades, thy milder majesty." — Bryant: A Forest Hymn, I. ii^. "Then may ye marble, unafraid, Where hands, that wear the fetter now." — Bryant : The Return of the Birds, I. sf, " Large part be theirs in what the year Shall ripen for the reaper here." — Bryant : The Sons' of the Sower, I. 104. " Where'er her troubled path may be The Lord's sweet pity with her^o." — Whittier : Snow Bound, I. ^64. 3. Subjunctive of Mild Statement. The subjunctive of mild statement is the subjunctive predi- cated in certain modified expressions by the verbs would, were and had. When predicated by would this subjunctive, like the optattve, expresses a wish, but expresses it in a milder manner. " Would I had met my dearest foe in Heaven." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, I. z, 182. " I would 1 had been there." — /bid., I. 2, 236. " Would the night were come." — Ibid., I. a, 2j6. " I -would yoa were an honest man." — Ibid., II. z, ij6. " Would it were so." — Ibid., III. 4, j6. " I -would you did, sir." — Ibid., V. 2, 140. " I -would it might be hangers till then." — Ibid., V. 2, i6j. " I would! had thy inches." — Shakespeare : Antony and Cleopatra, 1. 3, 41. " I would that I were dead." — Tennyson : Mariana, I. 12. " I would I were So tranced, so wrapt in ecstasies." — Tennyson: Eleanore, I. 7/. " And I would that ray tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me." — Tennyson: Break, Break, Break, I. 3. " Would God that I Might praise him, that great way, and die." — Browning : The Boy and the Angel, I. 17. " Would that the life which thou dost give Were life indeed." — Longfellow : Coflas de Maurique, I. 230. " Would she were mine, and I to-day Like her a harvester of hay." ' — Whittier : Maud Muller, I. Ji. " Would it might tarry like this, the beautiful of mine." — Browning : Abt Vogler, I. 9. " Would that I might wear out life like thee." — Bryant: October, I. ^. " Beautiful cloud ! I would I were with thee." — Bryant : To a Cloud, I. 7. lO In the above sentences the mood of the verbs can be changed to the indicative by substituting wish for would. In the follow- ing sentences where were predicates the statement in a still milder sense, the subjunctive can be changed to the indicative by substituting Tjuould be for were : — * " Ful hard -were it to prove by resoun." — Chaucer : The Parlament of Fouls, I. $34. " 'T-were good you let him know." — Shakesfearei Hamlet, III. 4, 188. " 'Tivere good she were spoken with." — Ibid., IV. s^ 14. " 'T-were to consider too closely to consider so.'" } — Ibid., V. J, zzy. " Man ti/ere immortal and omnipotent ' Didst thou Keep with thy glorious train." , — Shelley : Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, I. jg. "I tvere much loath to breed Dispute betwixt myself and mine." — Tennyson : The Princess, Canto I. I. i^S- " 'T-were well to question him, and try If yet he keep the power." — Tennyson: The Talking Oak, I. zf. " Were it well to obey, if a king demand An act unprofitable against himself?" — Tennyson : Morte d' Arthur, I. {y. " Were this not well to bide mine hour?" — Tennyson : The Two Voices, I. yy. " 'T-were Imbecile, hewing out roads to a wall." — Elizabeth B. Bro-wning : Mother and Poet, I. 7j. " With many a wish the luck -were ours To test his lamp's supernal powers." — Whittier : Sno-w Bound, I. j6. " ' It were a sin,' she said, ' to harm Or fright that friendly deer.' " — Bryant : The White-footed Deer, I. sy. Had, in the idiomatic expressions, "had rather," "had better," " had as lief," " had as soon," is a subjunctive of mild statement. Professor Earle, referring to this weakened sense of the subjunctive, calls it an " attenuated" subjunctive mood.f Examples are numerous in Shakespeare and the earlier poets : — " I hadde levere than my sherte That ye had rad his legende, as have I." — Chaucer: Nonne Preestes Tale, I. 301. " For lever had I die than see his deadly face.'' — Sfenser: Faerie ^ueene, Bk. I, Canto IX. st. 32. " Brutus had rather be a villager Than to repute himself a son of Rome." — Shakespeare : Julius Ceesar, I. z, 1J3. * W«« as a subjunctive of mild statement is frequent in modern prose: it occurs fortv-one times in Scott's Ivanhoe. Note the following :— " To forget its power to make this manifold appeal -were sadly to restrict its influence " Pro- fessor Richard Burton, in his article, " The Dark in Literature," The Forum, Feb. 1901. jEarle's Philology of the English Tongue, p. 555. (Macraillan & Co.) II " I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon Than such a Roman." — Ibid., IV. 3, 27. "I had as lief the town crier spoke m_y lines." — Shakesfeare : Hamlet., III. n, 3. Chaucer and Spenser and their contemporaries frequently used would and -were in connection with rather, liefer and better, as sulyunctives in their mild statements : — " Ful lief we;-e me this counsel for to hide." — Chaucer: The Shipman's Tale, I. ijg. " But rather violde he yeven out of doubt." — Chaucer: Prologue, I. 487. " That alle women levest -u/olde Be soverein of mannes love." — GoTver : Confessio Amantis, I. 12. " Me liefer mere ten thousand deathes priefe." — Spenser : Faerie ^ueene, Bk. II., Canto IV. tt. 28. " That death me liefer were then such despight." —Ibid., Bk. Ill, Canto I. st. 24. Shakespeare was fond of this idiomatic use oiwere: — " After your death you luere better have a bad epitaph Than their ill report while you live." — Hamlet, II. 2, Jji. " 'Ttvere better not assay'd." —Ibid., IV. r, IS3- "I -were better to be eaten to death.'' — 2 Henry IV., I. ^, 245. \ "I Tuere best to leave him." — /. Henry VI., V. 3, 82. " Poor lady, she were better love a dream." —Twelfth Night, I. 2, 27. " You were best to tell Antonio what he said." — Merchant of Venice, II. 8, 33. " 'Twere best not know thyself." — Macbeth, I. 2, 73. These idioms as subjunctives of mild statement do not, how- ever, occur often in recent poetry.* I find a few instances in Tennyson : — , " 'T-were best at once to sink to peace." — In Memoriam, I. J41). " Thou art so full of misery, Were it not better not to be?" — Two Voices, 1. 3. " 'Twere better not to breathe or speak." — Ibid., I. <)4. Note also Tennyson's peculiar use of had in a mild state- ment : — " If all was good and fair we met This earth had been the Paradise." — In Memoriam, I. 382. *They are met with frequently in recent newspaper editorials ; — v " China viould better hand over those foreig^n ministers, else it will cost her many hundreds of thousands of dissevered pigtails."— JTawiiw City Times, August 6, 1900. 12 4- Subjunctives in Rhetorical Qjuestions. In interrogative sentences the verbs, in most instances, are in the indicative mood ; but when the questions are rhetorical they are sometimes in the subjunctive : — " For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, Tlie oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely ? " — ishakespeare : Hamlet, HI., 2, 826. " For who tvould rise before this brave array Without a feeling ofdismay?" — Holmes. " Who would not like to live and see — What -waifs undreamed of," etc. — Holmes : Before the Curfew, I. 6j. II. Subjunctives in Clauses. I. Subjunctives of Purpose. The subjunctives of purpose, which occur in clauses intro- duced by Ikai or lesi, are generally detected by the verbs 6e, may, should or might, expressed or understood. They are found frequently in both prose and poetry ; but probably more frequently in prose.* They are common in Shakespeare and the later poets : — " Haste me to know 't; that I . . May sweep to my revenge." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, I. J, 31, " Get on your nightgown, lest occasion call us.'' — Shakespeare: Macbeth, II. n, 70. " Have you by some surgeon on your charge, Shylock, lest he do bleed to death." — Shakespeare : Merchant of Venice, IV. 1,241). " To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest He, returning, chide." — Milton : Sonnet on His Own Blindness, I. j. " Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray." — Burns : Cotter's Saturday Night, 1. 52. " Depart not, lest the grave should be Like life and fear, a dark reality." — Shelley : Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, I. 4f. " Better to hide from the Indian scouts the graves of our people. Lest they should count them." — Longfellow : The Courtship of Miles Standish, I. 66. " And we will pray that. . . . Our generals and their strong-armed men May lay their weapons by." — Bryant: The Return of the Birds, I. 56. " He therefore turning softly like a thief, Lest the harsh shingle should grate underfoot, And feeling all along the garden wall, Lest he should swoon and tumble and be found." — Tennyson: Enoch Arden, II. 820-823. * In the Book of St. John there .are two hundred and seven subjunctives; one hundred and twelve of them are subjunctives of purpose. 13 " Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, Lest ■vie forget — lest vis forget." — Killing: Recessional, I. 6. 2. Subjunctives of Simple Futurity. In many clauses which are introduced by that or who no purpose is implied ; the subjunctives found in them are simply subjunctives of futurity. They are met with frequently in Shakespeare : — "If there be any good thing to be done, That may to thee do ease, and grace to me. Speak to me." — Hamlet: I. i, 131. " That it might please you to give quiet pass Through your dominions." — Ibid., II. 2, 77. " It is impossible (that) they bear it out." Othello: II. J, ig. " No matter then who see it." — Richard II., V. 2, sg. " I care not who know it." — Henry V., IV. 7, 118. Shakespeare sometimes uses the indicative instead : — " I care not who kno-ivs so much." — T-welftk Night, III. 4, 300. Subjunctives of this class are found occasionally in more recent poets : — " Oh, better that her shattered hulk .S^o«/(/ j»»ji beneath the wave." — Holmes : Old Ironsides, I. 17. 3. Subjunctives of Result or Consequence. Clauses of result or consequence are introduced by so that, and occasionally by such that. In general, it may be said, that the action is done so {i. e. in such a way) that («'. e. in which way) the result follows : — " So excellent a king ... so loving to my mother That he might not beteem the winds of heaven." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, I. 2, 141. " But yet I could accuse me of such things That it -were better my mother had not borne me." — Ibid., III. I, 124. " So many thoughts moved to and fro That vain it -were her eyes to close." — Coleridge: Christabel, I. 252. " So live that when thy summons come . . . thou go not like the quarry-slave at night." — Bryant: Thanatopsis, I. 77. " So is it preordained that he behold His friends again." — Bryant : Translation of Homer's Odyssey, Bk. V. St. 4. 4. Subjunctives of Cause or Reason. The clauses which contain subjunctives of cause or reason, are generally introduced by that in the sense of because: — " Some might lament that I tvere cold. — Shelley : Stanzas written in Dejection near Naples, I. 37. ^4 "And we wept that one so lovely Should have a life so brief." — Bryant : The Death of the Flowers, I. 30. 5. Subjunctives of Concession. The subjunctives in concessive clauses are generally distin- guished by though (or although^, and if ox even if, in the sense of though, expressed or understood : — " Their virtues else — be they as pure as grace . . . Shall in the general censure take corruption." ^Shakespeare : Hamlet, I. 4, 33. " For murder, though it liave no tongue, will speak With most miraculous organ. "^ — Ibid., II. 2, 622. "Though this be madness, yet there's method in it." — Ibid., II. 2, 2oy. " Though it make the unskilful laugh." — Ibid., III. 2, 23. " Though inclination be as sharp as will, My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent." —Ibid., III.3,3g. " What if (though) this cursed hand Were thicker than itself with brother's blood." — Ibid., III. 3, 44. " And oft though Wisdom wake. Suspicion sleeps At Wisdom's gate." — Milton ; Paradise Lost, III. 686. "Though he behold it not, he can hear its continuous mumur.'' — Longfellow : Evangeline, Pt. II. I. ^4. " SjJeak the truth whatever it be, Though it rend my bosom's core." — Bret Harte : The Aged Stranger, I. 20, " I wept; and, though it be a dream, I weep." — Shelley: Epipsychidion, I. 308. " Be it starlight, be it moonlight In these vales below." — Whittier : The Lumbermen, I. 23. " For tho' the faults were thick as dust In vacant chambers, I could trust Your kindness." — Tennyson : To the ^ueen, I. 16. 6. Subjunctives of Comparison. The subjunctives of comparison occur in modern English, in clauses introduced by as; in middle English, by as or than. " Me (they) hym told more than soth (truej were." — Robert of Gloucester : Reign of William the Conqueror, 1. 50. " That was hym levere (dearer) than hys fader were." — Ibid., I, J2g. Subjunctives of this class are frequent in modern prose ; rare in modern poetry. " Have we, as 'twere, with a defeated joy." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, I. 2, 10. "Take you, as 'twere, some distant knowledge of him." — Ibid., II. J, 13. IS " That he, as 'i-were, by accident may here Affront Ophelia."— 7J«(f., ///. /, jo. " To hold, as 'tivete, the mirror up to nature." — Ibid., III. 2, 24.. " A loom, as it -were, for the fancy to spin on." LoTueH : A Fable for Critics, I. 82. 7. Subjunctives of Manner. Subjunctives expressing manner are generally detected by the clause's being introduced by as if: — " But age . . . hath shipped me into the land As if I had never been such." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, V. i, 82. " The knave jowls it to the ground, as if it -were Cain's jawbone." — Ibid., V. j, 86. " As if it could not be. as if it had not been !" — Shelley ; Hymn to Intellectual Beauty^ I. 77. " As if it tvere a lamp of earthly flame.'' — Shelley: Efipsychidion, I. 225. " Grief made the young Spring wild, and she threw down Her kindling buds, as if she Autumn were." — Shelley: Adonais, I. 137. " That's my last Duchess painted on the wall, Looking as if she tvere alive." — Browning : My Last Duchess^ I. 2. " I doubt not thou art heard, my son, As well as if thy voice to-day Were praising GoA in the Pope's great way." — Browning : The Boy and the Angel, I. 13. " Or else as if the world were wholly fair." — Tennyson: The Passing of Arthur, I. 18. " Four voices . . . Swell out and fail, as if a door Were shut between me and the sound." — Tennyson : In Memoriam, I. 441. " The little birds sang as if it were ' The one day of summer in all the year." — Lowell: Vision of Sir Launfal, Pt. I. I. 16. " Still they looked at me and smiled As if I were a boy." — Longfellow : Prelude to Voices of the Night, 1. 30. " Whither with so much haste As if a thief wert thou." — Longfellow : The Wave, I. 3. " As if a trumpet called, I've heard Dame Mercy Warren's rousing word." — Whittier : Snow-Bound, I. 218. " Then suddenly, as if (it were) to save The good man from his living grave." — Ibid., I. 2gg. " Huddled along the stone wall's shady side, The sheep show white, as if a snowdrift still Defied the dog-star." — Whittier : Among the Hills, I. 77. " As if, at every step, ye cast The pelting hail and riving blast." — Bryant : Song of the Sower, I. bo. i6 Frequently if is understood : — " Men, wives' and children stare, cry out and run As (if) it -were doomsday." — Shakespeare : Julius CoBsar, III. i, gy. " Ravens, crows and kites Fly o'er our heads and downward look on us, ' As (if) we were sickly prey." — Ibid,, V. j, 87. " He falls to such perusal of my face As (if) he tvould draiv it." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, II. i, gi. " And — as (if) the world were now but to begin." —Ibid., IV. S, 103.' " To throw away the dearest thing he owed As (if) 'twere a careless trifle." — Shakespeare : Macbeth, I. 4, Ji. " One cried, ' God bless us,' and ' Amen ' the other ; As (if) they had seen me with these hangman's hands." — Ibid., II. 2, 26. " I laughed as (if) I would die." — Holmes : Height of the Ridiculous, I. 6. ," Be .cheerful-minded, talk and treat Of all things e'en as (if) he were by." Tennyson : In Memoriam, I. 1237. Sometimes the clauses containing the subjunctives of manner are introduced by as though : — " And therewithal he bleynte, and cryde ' a ! ' As though he stongen were unto the herte." Chaucer : The Knightes Tale, I. 221. " Blinded alike from sunshine and from rain. As though a rose should shut, and be a bud again." —Keats : The Flight, I. 28. " As tho' it were the burthen of a song." — Tennyson: Mnoch Arden, I. 841). 8. Subjunctives in Indirect Questions. The subjunctives in indirect questions are found in clauses introduced by tf or whether. " For 'tis a question left us yet to prove. Whether love /e«rf fortune, or else fortune {lead ) love." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, III. z, 213. " If she should break it now." (J. e., suppose she should break it now?) — Ibid., III. s, 234. " Now, whether it be Bestial oblivion, or some craven scruple." — Ibid., IV. $, 40. " Sir Olaf questioned the knight eftsoon If he were come from Heaven down." — Longfellow : The Elected Knight, St. 7. " She'll not tell me if she love me." — Tennyson : Lillian, I. 6. " Till I know not what I am Nor whence I am, nor whether I be king." — Tennyson: The Passing of Arthur, I. 14^. 17 9- Subjunctives in Substantive Clauses. Subjunctives are often found in substantive clauses used with, (a) The verb be ; especially when it is followed by the ad- jectival expressions, good, fitting, necessary, etc. : — " 'Tis necessary that be looked unto." — MarloTve: The Jew of Malta., I. 2, 316. " 'Twere good you let him know." — Shakespeare : Hamlet., III. 4, 188. " 'Twere good she were spoken with." — Ibid., IV. j, 14. " Is it fit this soldier keefe his oath .' " — Shakespeare: Henry V. IV. i, 124. " 'Tis time that I were gone.'' — Tennyson : The Passing of Arthur, I. 331. (b) Verbs of thinking, saying, deeming, maintaining, IMAGINING, etc. : " I think it be no other but e'en so.'' — Shakespeare: Hamlet, I. 1, 108. " (I think) it may be." — Ibid., II. n, 1J2. "I cannot choose but weep, to tliink they should Lay him i' the cold ground." — Ibid., IV. j, 70. "Which . . . Indeed would make one think there might be thought." —Ibid., IV. s, 12. " I think it be thine."— /5««f., V. i, 131. " But that it eats our victuals, I should think Here were a fairy." — Shakespeare : Cymbeline, III. 6, 42. " 'Twere well, thought I, if often To rugged farm life came the gift To harmonize and soften." — Whiitier: Among the Hills, I. 4go. "Yet it were true To say this boy -were like me." — Shakespeare : The Winter's Tale, I. a, 135. " As who should say in Rome no justice were.'' — Shakespeare: Timon of Athens, IV. 3, 20. " And there have been holy men Who deemed it were not well to pass life thus." — Bryant : A Forest Hymn, I. qb. " They feed her theories, in and out of place \ Maintaining that with equal husbandry The woman were an equal to the man." — Tennyson: The Princess, Canto I. I. 130. " Imagine 'twere the right Vincentio.'" — Shakespeare : The Taming of the Shrew, IV. 4, 12. (c) Verbs of doubting and fearing : — "I doubt not you sustain what you're worthy of." — Shakespeare : Cymbeline, I. 4, 106. i8 (d) Verbs of knowing : — " Lord, we know what we are, but know not what we may de." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, IV. J, 44. " I would I had thy inches ; thou ehouldst know There -were a heart in Egypt." — Shakespeare : Antony and Cleopatra, I. 3, 41. " Although I know he -were mine enemy." — Shakespeare, Henry VIII. II. 4, 31- " But I will know If there 6e any faith in man." — Tennyson : Lady Clare, I. 44. (e) Verbs of wishing, commanding, entreating ?ind re- QJJESTING : / " I do wish That your good beauties be the happy cause Of Hamlet's wildness." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, III. i, 42. Subjunctives in substantive clauses that follow these verbs are met with frequently in the Bible ;* but they are found more frequently in poetry, especially in substantive clauses after verbs oi ivishing ^\{\cki are themselves in the subjunctive mood.f (f) Exclamations which are equivalent to principal state- ments containing verbs oi wishing: — " Ah, that I -were free again." — Whittier : Maud Muller, I. 76. 10. Subjunctives in Temporal Clauses. In temporal clauses, which are introduced by ere, before, till, until, when and while, subjunctives are found about as often as indicatives. I "Now, quiet soul, depart when Heaven //ease." — Shakespeare : I. Henry VI. III. 2, 112. " I saw, alas ! some dread event impend Ere to the main this morning sun descend." — Pope: The Rape of the Lock, Canto I. I. 72. " The tree will wither long before it fall." —;Byron : Childe Harold, III., 32. " Back ere the ruin fall." — Macaulay : Horatius, I. 4^0. " Build high the fire till the panther leap." — Bryant: The Green Mountain Boys, I. 20. " If (while) there breathe on earth a slave, Are ye truly free and brave?" — Lo-well: Freedom, I. 4. " As a tired slave goes adding stone to stone Until he stop some current." — Browning : A Transcript from Euripides, I. 48^. *" I will that they de with me."— 5/. ^oAm,*!/!!. 24. '• Will ye therefore that 1 release unto you the King of the Jews? " — Ibid., xviii. 59. " If I will that he tarry till 1 come." — Ibid., xxi. zz, 23. " These things I command you, that ye love one another." — Ibid. xv. 77. t Note the subjunctives in the clauses which follow would, the subjunctive of mild statement which express wish, page^ 9 ani-fo. X In Shakespeare's Hamlet there are fourteen temporal clauses that contain subjunctives. 19 "Thy kingly intellect shall feed, Until 6he be an athlete bold." — Tennyson: To ,l.2i. " And trust and hope till things should cease. And then one Heaven receive us all." — Tennyson : Confession, I. 33. " The magic music in his heart Beats quick and quicker, till hsfind The quiet chamber far apart." ■ — Tennyson : The Day Dream, I. g8. " Till the High God behold it from beyond, And enter it, and make it beautiful." — Tennyson: The Passing of Arthur, I. 16. II. Subjunctives in Indefinite Relative Clauses. Subjunctives are often found in clauses introduced by, (a) Indefinite Relative Pronouns : — " What man dare, I dare." — Shakespeare : Macbeth, III., 4, gq. " If thou pardon whosoever /ray, More sinners for this forgiveness prosper may.'' — Shakespeare: Richard II., V.,3,84. " Whate'er betide, we'll turn aside And see the Braes of Yarrow." — Wordsworth : Yarrow Unvisited, I. 7. " Speak the truth whatever it be. Though it rend my bosom's core.'' — Bret Harte : The Aged Stranger, I. 20. (b) Indefinite Relative Adjectives : — " Whatever lamps on earth or Heaven may shine Are portions of one power which is mine." — Shelley : Hymn to Apollo^ I. 23. (c) Indefinite Relative Adverbs : — " How in my words soever she be shent. To give them seals never, my soul, consent." — Shakespeare : Hamlet III., 2, 416. " Wherever he dream, under mountain or stream. The spirit he loves remains." — Shelley : The Cloud, I. 27. " Howsoever mean it be But 'tis good enough for thee." — Wordsworth : To the Small Celandine, I. 4J. " Howe'er it be, it seems to me 'Tis only noble to be good." — Tennyson : Lady Clare Vere de Vere, I. 53. " Wherever breeze of heaven may blow.'' — Bryant: The Hunter of the Prairies, I. 11. " Where'er her troubled path may be. The Lord's sweet pity with her go." — Whittier : Snow-Bound, X. ^63. " Look where we may the wide earth o'er, Those lighted faces smile no more." — Ibid., I. iSg. 20 12. Subjunctives in Conditional Clauses. Conditional clauses containing subjunctives are introduced by if, exceft, unless, provided, admit, grant, so, suppose, save, etc. They are common in both prose and poetry.* " If from His nature foes may pity claim." — Dryden : Religio Laid, I. igo. " If such there breathe, go mark him well." — Scott : Love of Country, I. 7. " Suppose 'twere Fortius, could you blame my choice?" — Addison : Caio, I. 6. " So I luere out of prison and kept sheepe I should be as merry as the day is long." — Shakespeare: King John, IV. i, ig. " If I -were a dead leaf thou mightest bear; If I -were a swift cloud to fly with thee." —Shelley : Ode to the West Wind, II. 43, 44. " If aught of prophecy be mine Thou wilt not live in vain." — Tennyson : To , /. 8. " And if a comrade seek her love, I ask her in my name To listen to him kindly." — Caroline E. Norton : Bingen on the Rhine, I. 29. " And speed you, if you ever for your life ■would speed." — Joaquin Miller : Kit Carson's Ride, I. 4s " So shalt thou rest; and what if thou luithdra-w In silence from the living, and no friend Take note of thy departure ? " — Bryant: Thanatopsis, II. 38, bo. " Thrice happy, Mitjind Acceptance in His ear." — Bryant : A Forest Hymn, I. 22. " Even the beggar, while he asks for food. Would kill thee, hapless stranger, if he could." — Bryant : To a Mosquito, I. 12. " If Heaven w«V/4Ae/rf supplies." — Whittier: Snow-Bound, I. 2()7. " ' And if I lend mine,' she said, ' Will you forgive the lender.?'" — Whittier: Among the Hills, I. 343. " If you wjs^ a thing to be well done. You must do it yourself." — Longfellow: The Courtship of Miles Standish, I. 114. " And if I should live to be The last leaf upon the tree." — Holmes : The Last Leaf, I. 43. " And say it won't stir, save the wheel be well wet afore." — Lowell: A Fable for Critics, I. 87. The introductory ij"is omitted when the predicate or part of the predicate comes before the subject : — " Go not my horse the better, I must become a borrower of the night." — Shakespeare : Hamlet, III. i, 26. * In the Book of St. John there are fifty-eight conditional clauses that contain subjunctives ; in Shakespeare's Hamlet there are thirty-two. 21 " Had I but died an hour before this chance I had lived a blessed time." — Ibid., II. 3, 96. " Teach me half the gladness That my brain must know." — Shelley : To a Skylark, I. loi. " And tell'st how little our large veins should bleed Wouldy/e hat yield them freely in thy need." — Bryant : To a Mosquito, I. 6. " Serve yourself woa/rf you be well served." — Longfello-w: The Courtship of Miles Standish, 1.3b. " Should I speak it here Ye would stand aghast with fear." — Longfellow : The Black Knight.^ St. 3. " Did we but use it as we ought, This world would school each wandering thought To its high state." — Longfellow : Coflas de Manrique, I. 61. In conditional clauses where the condition is thought of as if it were true, and if, for the time being, it is treated as if it were true, the mood of the verb is indicative and not subjunctive. : — * "List, list, O, list If thou didst ever thy dear father love." — Shakespeare : Hayilet, I. £, 23. The foregoing classifications do not, of course, include all the possible divisions and subdivisions that could be made in this interesting phase of syntactical study. Other divisions might be made which, in turn, might have other subdivisions. Again, it might be shown that there are, in our modern English verse, many instances where the subjunctive is used in such a subtle way as to defy any classification. In fact, it is not necessary that we should classify all subjunctives. Oftentimes we may be able to interpret the poet's meaning without classifying the moods of his verbs. But in most instances classifications of the moods will help us. In the study of modern English literature the value of syn- tactical phenomena has certainly not been fully appreciated ; especially is this true of the syntactical structure of our modern verse. "Browning," some say, "is obscure; in his verse he ' often throws in a few adjuncts, and leaves the reader to supply the subjects and predicates." This, in many instances, may be true ; but it is no fault of Browning's. When he wrote his verse he knew what he was doing ; and had his reasons for omitting certain words. If we would interpret his full meaning, we must study carefully the syntax of his verse. This is true not only of Browning's but of other poets' verse. In reading Tennyson, " the prince of modern poets," we can, by studying the syntactical structure of his verse, interpret many meanings which we could not otherwise understand. * See sentences on page 4, illustrating^ uses of if and though. 22 Professor C. Alphonso Smith, in a recent article on the inter- pretation of literature by thi^ means, points out the fact that Tennyson, in Canto XI. of his In Memoriam, has, in twenty successive lines, only one finite verb ; and that is tlie copula is* He says that the omission of the verbs in these twenty lines " adds an element of calm that could not otherwise be secured." This is true; but. in addition to the omission of verbs there is another important characteristic of sentence structure in Tennyson's verse by which he added poetical effect. By the frequent" subtle turning of the indicative into the subjunctive he and other poets have added much to the effectiveness of their verse ; Bryant, in line sixty-six of his Tkanatopsis, at first wrote : — "As the long train Of ages glides away ; " but afterwards changed the verb to the subjunctive, glide. It was probably by this means that Tennyson added more delicate touches to his verse than by any other verb-effect in his sentence structure. Let us turn to his Elaine, 11. 675 ff, and note a few of these delicate touches. Note how the poet, by means of the subjunctive, makes Elaine manifest her innocence and frankness when Gawain accuses her of being in love with Lancelot : — " ' I know not if I know what true love is, But, if I inow, then if I love not him, Methinks there is none other I can love.'" In Gawain's answer we have a degree-effect of his character, — a measure of his baseness, expressed in one subjunctive : — " 'Yea, by God's death,' said he, 'ye love him well. But would not, kneiu ye what all others know, And whom he loves.'" The subjunctive used in her answer, in turn, reveals the true inwardness of her character ; moreover, we are made not only to appreciate and admire her worth — the Truth side of her character — but also to love her true nobility — the Beauty side of her character : — " ' So be it,' cried Elaine, And lifted her fair face and moved away." The poet then, by use of subjunctives, gives us further clues to the character of Gawain : — ~ " But he pursued her, calling, ' Stay a little ! One golden minute's grace : he wore your sleeve : Would he break faith with one I may not name ? Must our true man change, like a leaf at last? Nay — like enough : why, then, far be it from me To cross our mighty Lancelot in his loves ! And, damsel, for I deem you know full well Where your great knight is hidden, let me leave My quest with you ; the diamond also : here ! ' " *" Interpretative Syntax," by C, Alphonso Smith, Publications of the Modern Language Association of America^ Vol. VIII. No. i (new series), p. 99, 23 As Gawain now perceives that he is gaining the confidence of Elaine, he ventures to approach the climax of the deception and treachery of his undertaking by the more frequent use of subjunctives : — " ' For, if you love, it will be sweet to give it; And, if he loves, it will be sweet to have it From your own hand ; and, whether he love or not, A diamond is a diamond. Ii'are you well A thousand times ! — a thousand times farev/eW ! Yet, if he love, and his love hold, we two May meet at court hereafter.'" Here we have seven lines containing seven subjunctives ; and every one expresses a special shade of meaning. If we substitute indicatives, not only will the rhythm and beauty of the lines be marred, but the force and meaning will be de- stroyed. In the first line Gawain says, " If you love" pretend- ing that he does not know that Elaine loves Lancelot ; hence he uses the subjunctive. But in line 710, after he had returned to the court, he uses the indicative, "she loves him," affirming to the king that there is no doubt about her loving Lancelot. By this special use of the subjunctive we are made to see the "traitor" in the character of Gawain that Tennyson had already referred to in line 638. In the next line Gawain says, " If he loves; " by using the indicative he makes Elaine believe that he thinks Lancelot loves her, when he knows full well that Lancelot does not. This one example is sufficient as an illustration of how care- ful Tennyson was in expressing delicate shades of meaning by appropriate uses of the subjunctive. I quote, however, a few others as further illustrations : — " As if some lesser god iad made the world. But kad not force to shape it as he would. Till the High God behold it from beyond, And enter it, and make it beautiful .? ^ Or else as if the world luere wholly fair." — The Passing- of Arthur, II. 14-18. " Sir King, I closed my eyelids, lest the gems Blind my purpose, for I never saw. Nor shall see, here or elsewhere, till I die. Not though I live three lives of mortal men, i So great a miracle as yonder hilt." — Ibid., II. 320-324. " O father, wheresoe'er thou be Who pledgest now thy gallant son ; A shot, ere half thy draught be done. Hath still'd the life that beatXtom. thee." — In Memoriam, Pt, VI. I. 9. " Were it well to obey then, if a king demand An act unprofitable against himself.'" — Morte d' Arthur, I. 41- ^4 "If thou ivert with irle, and the grave Divide us not, be with me now, And enter in at breast and brow, Till all my blood, a fuller wave. Be quickened with a livelier breath.'' — In Memoriam, Pi, CXXII. II. 9-IJ. Besides Tennyson and other modern poets of England, there are many of our best American poets who, in their verses, make frequent use of sentences that contain more than one sub- junctive : — " So shalt thou rest; and what if thou tviihdraiv In silence from the living, and no friend Take note of thy departure ? " — Bryant : Tkanatopsis, II. £s, 60. " Where'er her troubled path may 5e, The Lord's sweet pity with her go I " — Whittier: Snow-Bouttd,ll. 563, 564. " 'T-were a kind of relief ^arf I something to groan over." — Lotvell: A Fable for Critics, I. 100. . These are only a few of the many instances in recent Englisil; verse where several subjunctives occur in one sentence ; and yet all express special shades of meaning which could not be otherwise expressed.* Many of them bear favorable compar- ison with Shakespeare's oft-quoted lines : — "ICttvere done when 'tis done, then 'twere (would be) well It -were (should be) done quickly." — Macbeth, I. 7. /. The subjunctive as a distinct flectional form in our modern prose, a^ has already been stated, is not used as frequently now as it was in earlier times. An illustration of this fact is found by comparing the King James Version of the Bible with the Revised Version. The former has, in the Epistle to the Romans alone, twerity-three more subjunctives than the latter. Much of our written prose to-day reflects our spoken English ; it conforms to our everyday necessities — to our commercial — our utilitarian tendencies. But our best literature, and espe-, cially our poetry, reflects the refinement, the culture of our modern civilization. Here the subjunctive is not " pas^sing away," as many grammar-makers seem to think. " The poet," says Professor Earle, " will not relinquish the subjunctive mood ;- he knows its value too well."f Moreover, he can not; the poetical eff"ects produced by means of the subjunctive are more subtle and far-reaching than can possibly be produced by means of the indicative. In fact, there is no other syntactical device by, means of which the poet can more effectually subordinate formal assertions, and manifest to his readers his own emotions and feelings. *ThiB piling up of subjunctives is found frequently in the Bible: — " K I will that he tarry till I come."— St. John, xxi. zs, 23. t Earle's, A Simple Grammar of English Now in Use, p. 13a (G. P. Putnam's Sons) . PE 1290.86™" ""'™™"'' '■"'"^ ®"teViIiLil,ffl,?.te.,,EMish verse. ^i;- ';::¥'>