Sunday, February 2, 2020

INVICTUS - by William Ernest Henley




INVICTUS

by  William Ernest Henley



  Out of the night that covers me,
    Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
  I thank whatever gods may be
    For my unconquerable soul.


  In the fell clutch of circumstance
    I have not winced nor cried aloud.
  Under the bludgeonings of chance
    My head is bloody, but unbowed.


  Beyond this place of wrath and tears
    Looms but the Horror of the shade,
  And yet the menace of the years
    Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.


  It matters not how strait the gate,
    How charged with punishments the scroll,
  I am the master of my fate:
    I am the captain of my soul.










Triumph in spirit over adverse conditions is the keynote of this poem of courage undismayed. It rings with the power of the individual to guide his own destiny.