What's ように being used for at the end of these lyrics?

Question

There's this song I really like called "空がこんなに青いとは" in which there are the following lyrics:

空は教えてくれた
大きい心を持つように
友達の手を放さぬように

I'm kind of confused on how ように is being utilized at the end of the last two sentences.

I understand the string of lyrics as meaning:

The sky taught me to have a big heart, and to never let go of a friend's hand.

But what is the ように for? From my understanding it's usually used at the end of a sentence to indicate hope or a wish for something, but I'm not sure if the nuance's the same here. Could anyone please give me a breakdown of how it's being used? Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

It's ように used to make an instruction/command/wish. It's used before verbs such as 願う, 頼む, 命令する, 伝える, 言う and 教える. に is sometimes dropped.

• 彼に来るよう(に)頼んだ。
  I asked him to come.
• 音を立ててスープを飲まないよう(に)教えた。
  I taught them not to slurp soup.
• 黙るよう(に)言って！
  Tell her to shut up!

In your case, the verb (教えてくれた) comes first, which is a common rhetoric device known as 倒置 (hyperbaton/anastrophe). It's followed by the content of the teaching.

As you already know, ように is used also at the end of a sentence, and I agree that this usage is loosely related.

• ここで待つように。
  Wait here.
• 大学に合格しますように。
  May I get accepted into college.

It's explained in these definitions:

ようだ

４ （多く「ように」の形で）ある動作・作用の目的・目標である意を表す。「わかりやすくなるように並べかえましょう」

５ （「ように」の形で）婉曲 (えんきょく) な命令・希望の意を表す。「開始時刻に遅れないように」「今後ともよろしくご指導くださいますように」