A very sensitive man, Brorson was often deeply afflicted by his trials, but though cast down, he was not downcast. The words of his own beloved hymn, "Whatever I am called to bear, I must in patience suffer," no doubt express his own attitude toward the burdens of his life. His trials engendered in him, however, an intense yearning for release, especially during his later years. The hymns of his _Swan-Song_ are eloquent testimonies of his desire to depart and be at home with God. With the passing years his health became progressively poorer and his weakening body less able to support the strain of his exacting office. He would listen to no plea for relaxation, however, until his decreasing strength clearly made it impossible for him to continue. Even then he refused to rest and planned to publish a series of weekly sermons that he might thus continue to speak to his people. But his strength waned so quickly that he was able to complete only one of the sermons. On May 29, 1764, he begged a government official to complete a case before him at his earliest convenience "for I am now seventy years old, feeble, bedridden and praying for release from this unhappy world." Only a day later, his illness took a grave turn for the worse. He sank into a stupor that lasted until dusk when he awoke and said clearly, "My Jesus is praying for me in heaven. I see it by faith and am anxious to go. Come quickly, my Lord, and take me home!" He lingered until the morning of June 3, when he passed away peacefully just as the great bells of the cathedral announced the morning service. Several fine memorials have been raised to his memory, among them an excellent statue at the entrance to the cathedral at Ribe, and a tablet on the inside wall of the building right beside a similar remembrance of Hans Tausen, the leader of the Danish reformation and a former bishop of the diocese. But the finest memorial was raised to him by his son through the publication of _Hans Adolph Brorson's Swan-Song_, a collection of hymns and songs selected from his unpublished writings. The songs of the _Swan-Song_ were evidently written for the poet's own consolation and diversion. They are of very different types and merit, and a number of them might without loss have been left out of the collection. A few of them stand unexcelled, however, for beauty, sentiment and poetic excellence. There are songs of patience such as the inimitable: Her vil ties, her vil bies, Her vil bies, o svage Sind. Vist skal du hente, kun ved at vente, Kun ved at vente, vor Sommer ind. Her vil ties, her vil bies, Her vil bies, o svage Sind. which one can hardly transfer to another language without marring its tender beauty. And there are songs of yearning such as the greatly favored, O Holy Ghost, my spirit With yearning longs to see Jerusalem That precious gem, Where I shall soon inherit The home prepared for me.