§461. Infinitive Mood

Many Adjectives take the Infinitive in poetry, following a Greek idiom:—

• dūrus compōnere versūs (Hor. S. 1.4.8), harsh in composing verse.
• cantārī dīgnus (Ecl. 5.54), worthy to be sung. [In prose: quī cantētur.]
• fortis trāctāre serpentīs (Hor. Od. 1.37.26), brave to handle serpents.
• cantāre perītī; (Ecl. 10.32), skilled in song.
• facilēs aurem praebēre (Prop. 3.14.15), ready to lend an ear.
• nescia vincī pectora (Aen. 12.527), hearts not knowing how to yield.
• tē vidēre aegrōtī; (Plaut. Trin. 75), sick of seeing you.

a. Rarely in poetry the infinitive is used to express result:—

• fingit equum docilem magister īre viam quā mōnstret eques (Hor. Ep. 1.2.64), the trainer makes the horse gentle so as to go in the road the rider points out.
• hīc levāre ... pauperem labōribus vocātus audit (Hor. Od. 2.18.38), he, when called, hears, so as to relieve the poor man of his troubles.

b. The infinitive occasionally occurs as a pure noun limited by a demonstrative, a possessive, or some other adjective:—

• hōc nōn dolēre (Fin. 2.18), this freedom from pain. [Cf. tōtum hōc beātē vīvere (Tusc. 5.33), this whole matter of the happy life.]
• nostrum vīvere (Per. 1.9), our life (to live).
• scire tuum (id. 1.27), your knowledge (to know).

Exclamatory Infinitive