I always thought
that "may" was a request for permission, whereas "can" meant was
it possible.
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I’ve heard the second-person quite often in musical or poetic forms, for example:
“May you live in interesting times” or “May you stay forever young” or in some religious blessings “May you grow in grace.”
All seem to take the form of.a blessing/curse, although if we’re talking blessings I much prefer this collection of third-person “may <third person> do stuff for you”:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
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Interesting - Dan's list is, I think, a rare example in English
of the use of the subjunctive tense
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