When God from earth shall call me.
A moment’s failing breath,
And I am cold in death,
Faced with eternity fore’er;
Death walks besides me everywhere.
I walk ’mongst angels everywhere;
They are my sure defenders;
The hordes of hell in vain prepare
Against such strong contenders.
All doubts and fears must flee,
With angels guarding me;
No foe can harm me in their care;
I walk ’mongst angels everywhere.
I walk with Jesus everywhere;
His goodness never fails me.
I rest beneath His shielding care
When trouble sore assails me.
And by His footsteps led,
My path I safely tread.
Despite all ills my foes prepare:
I walk with Jesus everywhere.
I walk to heaven everywhere,
Preparing for the morrow
When God shall hear my anxious prayer
And banish all my sorrow.
Be quiet then, my soul,
Press onward to thy goal.
All carnal pleasures thou forswear,
And walk to heaven everywhere.
Unlike Kingo and Grundtvig, Brorson wrote no outstanding hymns on the
sacraments. Pietism was in the main a revival movement and placed no special
emphasis on the means of grace. And although Brorson remained a loyal son of
the established church, he wrote his finest hymns on those phases of Christianity most earnestly emphasized by the movement to which he belonged. While this is
only what could be expected, it indicates both his strength and limitation as a hymnwriter. He was above all the sweet singer of Pietism.
The hymns of Brorson that appeared during his lifetime were all written within
the space of four years. In that brief period he composed a volume of songs that rank with the finest in the Christian church, and just as he might have been expected to produce his finest work, he discontinued his effort. The hymns of the Swan-Song—which we shall discuss later—though written for his own edification, indicate what he might have attained if he had continued to write for publication. His reason for thus putting aside the lyre, which for a little while he had played so appealingly, is unknown. Some have suggested that he wrote his
hymns according to a preconceived plan, which, when completed, he felt no inclination to enlarge; others have surmised that the new and ardent duties, bestowed upon him about this time, deprived him of the leisure to write. But as
Brorson himself expressed no reason for his action, no one really knows why this sweet singer of Pietism so suddenly ceased to sing.
[5]Another translation with the same first line by A. M. Andersen in “Hymnal for Church and Home”.
[6]Another translation: “The faith that God believeth” by P. C. Paulsen in
