The Great Wave off Kanagawa

Judith Rawnsley

The Great Wave’s monstrous roar and menacing crest
wash from century to century and shore to shore,  

blown on the winds of music and art, 
propelled by wave after wave

of prints and posters, T-shirts postcards, 
and coasters. We are held in the spell

of its perfect spiral, 
seconds before it breaks—

a delicate balance of wind-whipped froth and lace,  
etched in Prussian blue and silver white. Imagine

we are a rower in one of the tiny boats lifted on the rogue swell:
nose down, our hands slip on the oars. Salt spray slaps

our face. Our every sense is crystal-edged. We gasp for air— 
orbit and oscillate like water molecules as the wave’s

energy flows through us. Sense how the monster we ride  
sucks energy from the waves it collides with—bloats

as its neighbours shrink—
becomes the catalyst of its own collapse. 

The writing is in the sky. The day will come when we are caught
in the claws of nature—hurled upside

down—when water rises as mountain and the stars tumble
into the sea like snowflakes. 

Be present, Hokusai seems to say. You are part and particle of nature.
Let its power move through you. Keep your gaze focused on the peak.

The Science

The iconic woodblock print, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (known as The Great Wave), by Japanese artist Hokusai, features a rogue wave. Rogue waves are unusually large and unpredictable ocean waves. While their exact cause is still being investigated, they are believed to result from a combination of factors including wave interference, the focusing of wave energy and nonlinear wave interactions, along with storms, strong winds and ocean currents. Climate change may cause more rogue waves. 

My poem assumes that Hokusai’s rogue wave was caused by non-linear wave interaction, whereby a normal wave rapidly draws energy from surrounding waves becoming significantly larger. Within a rogue wave, water molecules oscillate and orbit in a circular motion transferring energy through the water and propelling the wave forward.

The Poet

Originally from the UK, Judith Rawnsley worked in Asia for many years as a journalist, author, editor, literary critic and in finance. Her poems have appeared in Modern Poetry in Translation, the Ginkgo Prize Ecopoetry Anthology 2022, The Amsterdam Quarterly, Heroines Anthology Volume 5, Poetry News and the anthology To Lay Sun Into A Forest–Poems About Grief (Sidhe Press 2025). Judith is currently based in Porto, Portugal.

Next poem: The Oar Interferes by Amy Nash