Invictus

Prelude:  "Invictus" is a short Victorian poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903).At the age of 12, Henley contracted tuberculosis of the bone. A few years later, the disease progressed to his foot, and physicians announced that the only way to save his life was to amputate directly below the knee. It was amputated when he was 17.^[1] Stoicism inspired him to write this poem.^[2] Despite his disability, he survived with one foot intact and led an active life until his death at the age of 53. The poem was written in 1875 in a book called Book of Verses, where it was number four in several poems called Life and Death (Echoes).
 
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.

- William Ernest Henley

Disclaimer: This blog represents a selection of poems liked by Vinit Asher.  We don't own copyrights on any of the content.