Trouble understanding "que"

Question

In a sentance from a song "Que vuelvas a mi lado, que tengas compasion". Shouldn't the second que be "y"? [and have compassion]

Welcome to the forum! - pesta, Mar 3, 2011

and have a vote - to get you started too. - ian-hill, Mar 3, 2011

Answer 1

Yes, with more orthodox punctuation it would be either "¡Que vuelvas a mi lado! ¡Que tengas compasion!" or "¡Que vuelvas a mi lado y que tengas compasion!" And, as Pesta said, each phrase would be preceded by "Espero" in more formal speech/writing.

Answer 2

I am not speaking from broad knowledge here;

this is just a guess and must wait for a real knowledegable Spanish native, but I think it might be what is called poetic license. The author is being poetic by repeating the word "que" rythmically.

Answer 3

"que tengas" is short for "espero que tengas", as in "I hope you have..." or "may you have..."

Same is probably true for the first part.

May you return to me, may you have compassion... - pesta, Mar 3, 2011