Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
風をいたみ
Minamoto no Shigeyuki · 源重之
風をいたみ
岩うつ浪の
おのれのみ
砕けてものを
思ふ頃かな
Historical kana
かぜをいたみ
いはうつなみの
おのれのみ
くだけてものを
おもふころかな
Original English translation
The wind is fierce: waves strike the rocks and break only themselves, as I too am broken by thought.
History and context
Shigeyuki’s poem appears in the Shikashū love section. Waves against an unmoving rock offer a way to portray effort that injures the person making it rather than changing the beloved.
Imagery and wordplay
The rock stays still while the waves shatter. “Only myself” brings the natural comparison back to the speaker.
Shikashū · 詞花集恋上210
Japanese text and historical kana follow the linked Wikisource transcription. Classical poems can have variant spellings and wording in different anthologies. The source anthology reference identifies the version represented in this collection, not necessarily its earliest surviving text. English prose translations and reading notes are original interpretations; some wordplay permits more than one reading.