Henley - Invictus

Invictus - 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.