WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY 1849-1902

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INVICTUS; THE 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.

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This English schoolmaster became a very successful poet, critic and editor.

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