Practice

morning after morning
you must practice to proceed
— a cricket

朝な朝な 手習ひすすむきりぎりす

asa na asa na / tenarai susumu / kirigirisu

Matsuo Basho, before 1680

Practice, practice, practice

The subject of this haiku, the almost insignificant cricket (kirigirisu, きりぎりす), and its need to practice to move on, suggests that it was written before 1680. Before 1680, Matsuo was an up and coming haiku poet with some disciples and still known as Tosei, the unripe peach, and not as Matsuo Basho. He acquired this name only after much practice and leaving central Edo for the Fukagawa District and his simple cottage with the banana tree.

Asa na asa na, morning after morning just keep at it. Eventually, it will come. But probably not for the short lived cricket.

For those who like conjecture, Buddhism suggests that Enlightenment must be earned, thus for the cricket to advance beyond being a lowly cricket it must practice (tenarai). Tenarai may refer to one of the chapters of the Tale of the Genji, a story of a commoner wanting to rise. Susumu meaning “to proceed” or “advance.” In the Tale of the Genji, the hero leaves the Imperial Court and goes to seek the advice of a recluse, which may have inspired Basho’s move from Edo to Fukagawa.

There is a similar thought expressed in the Latin phrase, Ars longa, vita brevis, or”skill takes time, life is short.” There is also the old joke that the tourist asks in New York — “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice.”