BRORSON, HANS ADOLF. - Danish religious poet, born at Randrup on 20 July 1694 and died at Ribe on 3 June 1764. The son of a Protestant pastor, he was himself a pastor and, from 1741, bishop of Ribe.
His hymns undoubtedly constitute the finest lyric production of Denmark at the time, and not only because of the sweetness of their rhythm and the extreme musicality of their verse. Written under the direct influence of German Pietism, they exalt the personal relationship between God and the believer, and Jesus is often celebrated in them as the heavenly Bridegroom, not without a certain conventional sentimentalism. A more personal note is provided by certain references to the beauty of Danish nature and to the poet’s daily life. Besides the Julesalmer (Christmas Hymns, 1732), we may mention: Troens rare Klenodien (Rare Jewels of Faith, 1739), a collection of 274 hymns, 82 of them original (the others being translations or adaptations from German), and Swanesangen (Swan Song, 1765), a posthumous collection of 70 hymns, more personal and melancholy in tone, often extolling death, desired by the poet as a liberation.