Ernest Bryll – poet, writer, songwriter, journalist, translator, film critic and diplomat – died at the age of 89. The information was announced on Sunday on social media by the RWE Association. Jan Nowak-Jeziorański. It was also confirmed by the Association of Polish Writers.
– Ernest Bryll 1/03/1935 – 16/03/2024. We say goodbye to an outstanding poet, a great writer – wrote Mariusz Kubik from the RWE Association on Facebook on Sunday. Jan Nowak-Jeziorański, posting the text of a poem by Bryll entitled “To the islands”.
– I saw the world much wiser through my poems than through my political combinations and thinking – Bryll told PAP in 2020, in an interview conducted on the occasion of the 85th anniversary.
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Ernest Bryll was born on March 1, 1935 in Warsaw. During the occupation, he was a Zawiszak – a member of the youngest Szare Szeregi team. After the war, he briefly conspired in underground scouting, and passed his high school leaving examination at the age of sixteen. After a short stint as a worker at the port power plant in Gdynia, he was accepted to study Polish studies at the University of Warsaw.
Raised in the patriotic tradition of the Second Polish Republic – his father Stanisław was a pre-war soldier – he found himself in the post-war reality without any scruples. He was a journalist, head of film teams, literary director of theaters, translator, author of musicals, playwright and diplomat (in 1991-1995 he served as the Polish ambassador to Ireland).
Above all, however, he was a valued poet who made his debut in 1958 with the work “Wigilie Wariata”. He published almost 40 volumes of poems, including: “Self-portrait with a bull”, “Applied art”, “Mazowsze”, “Sometimes I meet myself”, “Advent”.
He was also the author of frequently performed dramas: “The November Thing”, “Kurdesz” and “The Cenacle”. He also wrote the oratorio “Kolęda-Nocka” and the texts for the shows “After the mountains, after the clouds” and “Na szszło-paowane”.
– Some critics say that his poetry borders on graphomania. Others consider him a seer. Meanwhile, the circulation of Ernest Bryll’s books reaches thousands, which is unattainable for contemporary poetry. And there are several hundred people at meetings with the author – wrote Mateusz Wyrwich in the text “The poet’s biography is not simple”. “His poetry shaped the aesthetic tastes of Poles,” he said.
Even though it was not his intention, Bryll became the author of the lyrics of several popular songs – including: “Psalm of those standing in line”, which – performed by Krystyna Prońko – became a hit at the Solidarity Carnival in 1980-81. His songs were also sung by, among others: Maryla Rodowicz, Halina Frąckowiak, Stan Borys and Jerzy Połomski. His lyrics were also performed by such popular bands as Skaldowie, 2 plus 1 and Myslovitz.
– I never wrote song lyrics specifically, because when I started writing them, they always sucked – said Bryll. – One composer once told me: don’t write songs, don’t think about it; write poems and let us, musicians, rummage through them, he explained.
He was awarded the Knight of the Royal House of Ireland O’Conor (1995) and the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2006). He was the winner of a number of literary awards, including: the Red Rose Award (1961), the W. Broniewski in the field of poetry (1964), Prizes named after Stanisław Piętak for the volume of poetry “Mazowsze” (1968) and the Awards of the Capital City of Warsaw (2009).
In 2010, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture Gloria Artis, and in 2023 – the Medal of the Centenary of Regained Independence.
PAP / RL / opr. LisA
Photo Tomasz Leśniowski, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons