I would that I were dead

Hi Anon

Yes, as far as I know, this usage of the word 'would' is always followed by 'that'. This is a literary usage, used to express a wish.

I believe the "that" can be omitted, as in Romeo and Juliet:

1. "I would I were thy bird." "Sweet, so would I."

Best wishes,

MrP

Thanks for the tip, MrP.

Thanks Yanki and MrPedantic!

That is amazing!

I would I could compose poems like Tennyson. So can we say that we can replace "I wish" with "I would" as in my sentence in blue.

Personally, I never use 'would' that way unless I am attempting to jokingly imitate a famous poet from hundreds of years ago!

It is good that you understand that usage of 'would' so that you understand poetry or very old literature, but I strongly recommend that you avoid using 'would' that way yourself.

Yes it is Old English though, noone would ever say that now, so I suggest you don't use it like that .

I'm sorry, I slightly misread the question – to clarify, I meant that "I would I were X" may be found, as well as "I would that I were X".

I would agree with Yankee on usage: it would sound a little arch or jocular in current English.

"I would (that) X!" formations turn up quite often in literature (esp. poetry) until the beginning of the 20th century, but then become quite rare

Yes, dated:
-----
You shall, I trust, rest here with me a while, so that by our talking
I may learn the English intonation. And I would that you tell me when
I make error, even of the smallest, in my speaking. I am sorry that I
had to be away so long today, but you will, I know forgive one who has
so many important affairs in hand.

Extract fr

Thanks! There are a lot of archaic words used in poetry as it is in 19th century novels and poetry.

Anon = enough

ere = before

even = eventide = evening

forlorn = bored and lonely

morn = morning

brow = forehead

sans wine, sans songs, sans singers, sans end = without wine, wihtout songs, without singers, without end

Hi Magic79

Words that are considered to have primarily a literary usage are not necessarily also archaic. To me, an archaic word or usage is one that is not used anymore. Of the words you listed in your post, I would consider only ere and even/eventide to be archaic. The others are still alive and kicking.