Sunday, May 06, 2012

Invictus

I saw the film, "Invictus" last night. Fell in love with Morgan Freeman all over again. Fell in love with a lot of things all over again. While that is a subject of more elaborate discussion, in this post I'll restrict myself to the poem, "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley, the lines of which were used in abundance in the film. And I'm sure you will like it.




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.