「思う」 in 「その人を私のように　思う」：think v.s. feel


It seems that 「思う」 can both

be "to think/consider" (actively) as in

「義父母を本当の親のように思うのは無理です」

and "to feel" (passively) as in

「母をなくした子をあわれに思う」.

When reading [an
article](http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASG1945GDG19USPT008.html) in Asahi
Shimbun, I bumped into a 3-line poem in which 「思う」 sounded quite ambiguous to
me:

> 急行にのって駅を通過するとき
>
> ベンチに腰かけている人がチラリと見える
>
> その人を私のように 思う

"I considered the person as myself"？"I felt the person was just like me"? "I
thought of the person in my way"? With no context other than the rest two
lines, does it really sound ambiguous?




"I felt the person was just like me" is the correct interpretation.

The author of the poem (passively) felt sympathy for the person waiting in a
station skipped by express trains. Hence the explanation
「自分の人生は急行ではなく鈍行列車のようなものだ」.

Note: Actually I think the meaning of this poem as a whole is very ambiguous
and difficult to interpret, and 天声人語's explanation is one of the
possibilities. I found an
[article](http://blog.livedoor.jp/msktt/archives/52087283.html) that disagrees
with the 天声人語's explanation.




"I felt the person was just like me" is the correct interpretation.

The author of the poem (passively) felt sympathy for the person waiting in a
station skipped by express trains. Hence the explanation
「自分の人生は急行ではなく鈍行列車のようなものだ」.

Note: Actually I think the meaning of this poem as a whole is very ambiguous
and difficult to interpret, and 天声人語's explanation is one of the
possibilities. I found an
[article](http://blog.livedoor.jp/msktt/archives/52087283.html) that disagrees
with the 天声人語's explanation.

