Jan Brzechwa, Poems about death

The last volume of Brzechwa, Lyrics of my life, has an interesting reverse chronological arrangement. It begins with lyric poems written before and related to death, and ends with youthful poems. Thus, the reader begins reading with the "last word" – texts that can be treated as an attempt at reckoning and a poetic summary.

There are many connections between Brzechwa's philosophy of life and Bergson's élan vital, which are strongly exposed in poems about death. The poet lived an intense life, even a heart disease did not thwart his activities. Also his poetic hero was subject to constant development and dynamism, accepting the passing of time. Poetry and love became his literary testament.

Death, which had already been strongly displaced from social life in the 20th century, was brought back by Brzechwa through poetic matter as a phenomenon belonging to the continuity of physical laws. The poet does not monumentalize it, he writes about it ironically and witty. The poetic testament did not contain a moral message, but only short, humorous dispositions regarding the funeral ceremony, which should be short and easy for the mourners. As a response to the thought of death comes poetic work until the last moment. Literary persistence somehow overcomes death – the work perpetuates what death dematerializes. Literature understood in this way fits into the cosmology of life, duration and passing. Melancholy is replaced by edifying creation. Following the phenomenologists, it can be assumed that due to the inaccessibility of death as a direct experience, we are dealing with the hermeneutics of dying, with the "not-yet" of death. In Brzechwa's poems, the difficult sadness of passing away turns into a lyrical smile, memories filled with tenderness and love:

Widzisz, sam sobie przeczę. I ty sobie przecz,

Gdy serce moje nagle o północy uśnie;

Pomyśl: „To taka zwykła, naturalna rzecz”.

I liryka się zmieni w obopólny uśmiech. (Lyrical smile).