When you read about William Henley’s life, you’ll find that his honor of drawing these words from the air is well-deserved. Invictus means “unconquered” in Latin. His words are those of an unconquerable soul, indeed.
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.
I feel this poem. Didn’t really understand what it meant when we studied it back in junior year of High School. But the last two lines do come back to me from time to time.
If you have faced loss, hardships or temptations as I have, you will find that there is no such thing as being pinned against a wall. The path of strength, of what’s right and what’s true, is always something that you can choose amidst all of these trials. Hearing yourself choose this path can reinforce this in time when you are literally faced with, say, temptation. Acknowledging that you have an “indomitable willpower” can, by the Law of Attraction, attract the needed willpower to overcome anything.
Facing a temptation and saying no to it… is something very familiar to me. I remember whispering those very words: my will is indomitable. Words of power.
