Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
思ひわび
Dōin Hōshi · 道因法師
思ひわび
さても命は
あるものを
憂きに堪へぬは
涙なりけり
Historical kana
おもひわび
さてもいのちは
あるものを
うきにたへぬは
なみだなりけり
Original English translation
Though I am exhausted by longing, my life somehow continues; what cannot endure the suffering is my tears.
History and context
Dōin became a monk after a career as a court official. His Senzaishū poem uses the love-poetry voice to distinguish bodily survival from the inability to hold tears back.
Imagery and wordplay
Life endures while tears break through. The final discovery reverses the opening expectation of collapse.
Senzaishū · 千載集恋三817
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.