Question about sentences that qualify nouns

Question

(私が)望む未来　 (未来を)望む私

I used the same verb behind two diffent nouns. However the Subject-Verb-Object remains the same. The first sentence standing for: "The future I desire.". Would the second sentence mean: "Me, who desires the future."? What if the words in the parenthesis disappeared? Would 望む未来 and 望む私 still stand by themselves as: "The future I desire" and "Me, who desires"?

Should I use -ている instead to imply the state and clarify that 私 is the Subject and not the Object? 望んでいる私

Does the sentence below keep the meaning of (私が)望む未来 while emphasizing on the state of waiting? (私が) 望んでいる未来

I am very curious...

Answer 1

Basically your understanding is correct, but adding ている does not clarify the subject/object relationship.

私が望む未来 is the future I desire, and 未来を望む私 is me who desires the future. Also 望む未来/望む私 are, as you guessed, the future (someone) desires and me, who desires. Using ている does not change the basic meaning, it is just a matter of desire/desiring.

Generally, when the modifying verb is transitive like 望む, the relative clause can be ambiguous as to what role the modified noun plays semantically.

For (a bit artificial) example, consider 望む自分. Depending on context it can be interpreted either as

1. 私が望む自分 Me as desired by me; or
2. 何かを望む自分 Me who desires something,

where something depends on the context. Either way, putting explicitly 私が or 何かを disambiguates 望む自分.

In the case of the example in question, 未来 can not be the subject for 望む (unless it is a name of someone). So the interpretation settles down on what you understand.