Unconquered

Invictus

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

Who was English Poet William Ernest Henley and why did he write this poem? Hensley was hospitalized for tuberculosis (of the bone) as a young man--age 17. After a painful lower leg amputation, he was told he would need another operation to save his other leg. However, he went to a different doctor and was able to keep his other leg by undergoing intensive surgery on his remaining foot. While recovering, he was moved to write the words of this poem. This challenge, as well as impoverished childhood, inspired the poem.  Despite his disability, Hensley led an active life until his death at the age of 53. The title "Invictus" (Latin for "unconquered"^[5]) was added by editor Arthur Quiller-Couch when the poem was included in The Oxford Book of English Verse .^{[6][7]  Wikipedia.}