4.213 regret: 'would that'

In very old-fashioned English, 'would' is used without a subject to express a wish that a situation might be different, or to express regret that something did not happen in the past. 'Would' is followed by a 'that'-clause.

• 'Are they better off now than they were two years ago?' --- 'Would that they were.'
• Would that the developments had been so easy.

When 'I' is the subject of the 'that'-clause, the verb is usually 'were'.

• Would that I were young again, and she were in my arms.