白露に

風の吹きしく

秋の野は

つらぬきとめぬ

玉ぞ散りける

ふんやのあさやす

しらつゆに

かぜのふきしく

あきののは

つらぬきとめぬ

たまぞちりける

Funya no Asayasu

The glistening dew drops

Are fiercely blown by the wind

Over the autumn field,

Incessantly forced to scatter

Like pearls from a broken string.

Funya (or Bunya) no Asayasu (dates unknown; early tenth century), also called Tomoyasu, was the son of Funya no Yasuhide (poem 22). Not much is known about him, and he only left three poems.

作者略伝と語釈

Some commentators see temple boys on the boat in Hokusai’s woodcut, others court ladies.  Maybe they are court boys. Anyway, they seem to be cutting and gathering the big lotus leaves from the water. We don’t see any flowers; those have withered. The dew drops are clearly visible on the leaves. There is a strong wind pushing the boat and scattering the dew drops.

Hokusai

Lotus leaves

Other print version of the woodcut

The drops of dew on lotus leaves don’t cling to the leaves. The surface of the lotus leaves is rough and uneven so that even water cannot dampen the leaves. Its adhesive strength is so weak that the water’s surface tension triumphs. It draws together to form a drop and rolls off at the slightest incline. With the slightest breeze the water drops scatter like beads falling from a string.

Hokusai’s interpretation is very poetic as well.