INVICTUS
is a poem that inspired and sustained the spirit and courage of Nelson Mandela
while he was in Robben Island Prison for 27 years. It is a short Victorian poem by
the English poet William
Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was
first published in 1875 in a book called Book
of Verses, where it was number four in several poems called Life and Death (Echoes).
I got introduced to this when I saw the movie “Invictus” and since then
have been hooked on to it. Down the years this poem has been a great source of
solace and encouragement for me.
Invictus (Unconquerable)
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.
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.
William Ernest Henley
