Thou knowest best my weak and fainting heart
And must not let me from Thy way depart.
I shall Thy name with praises hallow,
If Thou wilt help me Thy blest way to follow.
But fine as many of his translations are, Brorson’s main claim to fame must rest, of course, upon his original compositions. These are of varying merit. His Christmas hymns were followed by a number of hymns for the festivals of the church year. While some of these are excellent, others are merely rhymed meditations upon the meaning of the season and lack the freshness of his Christmas anthems. The triumphant Easter hymn given below belongs to the finest of the group.
Christians, who with sorrow
On this Easter morrow
Watch the Savior’s tomb,
Banish all your sadness,
On this day of gladness