Invictus Poem by William Ernest Henley - Poem Hunter

Invictus Poem by William Ernest Henley - Poem Hunter
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William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1902 / Gloucester / England)
#58 on top 500 poets

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Poems by William Ernest Henley : 70 / 173
Poem Hunter Poems Invictus
Invictus - Poem by William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley's Other Poems
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O Gather Me The Rose
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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.
More poems of William Ernest Henley
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.
Famous Poems
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
http://poemhunter.com/poem/invictus/
Phenomenal Woman
Maya Angelou
Still I Rise
Maya Angelou
The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost
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Poems by William Ernest Henley : 70 / 173
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Caged Bird
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Maya Angelou
If
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Stopping By Woods On A Snowy

Evening
Robert Frost
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Roald Dahl
Mizzy ........ (9/2/2016 5:34:00 PM)

Very inspirational write indeed. (Report)
Reply
Sophie Woo (6/2/2016 7:36:00 AM)

One of my favorites, too. (Report)
Reply
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Robert Frost
Glenn Frederick Baker (5/17/2016 12:38:00 PM)

Dynamic! Powerful! (Report)
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Jeffri Zulkifli (5/17/2016 7:26:00 AM)

Can someone explain to me why it's a freedom poem? (Report)
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William
Shakespeare
Pablo Neruda
Woru Sulyman (4/9/2016 5:28:00 PM)

a real inspiration seasoned with enough conviction.
for I am the master of my fate
for I am the captain of my soul. (Report)
Famous Poets
Maya Angelou
Thomas Case (5/17/2016 3:12:00 PM)

Powerful....I shall rise again. (Report)
The Complete List of Top 500 Poems
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Emily Dickinson
Matt Sanders (3/30/2016 6:02:00 PM)

Strangely enough, this poem got me through learning to walk again, and I only found out years later that
Henley wrote this after losing his leg, and that he was friends with Robert Louis Stevenson, and was the
inspiration for Long John Silver. (Report)
Reply
Edgar Allan Poe
Ahmed Gumaa Siddiek (3/4/2016 7:53:00 AM)
Langston Hughes

How charged with punishments the scroll.
John Keats

Great poem which inspired Mandela all his life and gave him strength to endure imprisonment for 18
years and injustice of the apartheid regime. (Report)
Reply
William
Wordsworth
Folayemi Akande (3/1/2016 6:15:00 AM)

May the gods that guides your quill save you from day to day. (Report)
Reply
Ukata Onyekachi (12/28/2015 2:30:00 AM)

Staying tough tough tough in all roughs. I am the master of my life. Great poem! (Report)
Rabindranath
Tagore
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The Complete List of Top 500 Poets
Thomas Case (12/20/2015 9:22:00 AM)

trudging the road of life...no regrets, no fear...complete confidence (Report)
Classical Poets
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Fabrizio Frosini (11/20/2015 8:53:00 AM)

- INVICTUS - (ENGLISH / ITALIAN) :
______________________________
Out of the night that covers me,
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9/20/16, 4:18 PM
- - Dal profondo della notte che mi avvolge,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,
- - nero come un pozzo da un polo a un altro,
I thank whatever gods may be
- - ringrazio qualunque dio possa esistere
For my unconquerable soul.
- - per la mia anima inespugnabile.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
- - Nella feroce morsa delle circostanze
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
- - non mi sono tirato indietro n ho gridato forte.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
- - Sotto ai colpi dascia della sorte
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
- - il mio capo sanguinante ma indomito.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
- - Oltre questo luogo di collera e lacrime
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
- - incombe solo lorrore delle ombre,
And yet the menace of the years
- - eppure la minaccia degli anni
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
- - trova, e mi trover senza paura.
- - Non importa quanto sia stretta la porta,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
- - quanto piena di punizioni la pergamena,
- - io sono padrone del mio destino:
- - io sono capitano della mia anima.
______________________________ (Report)
Reply
Fabrizio Frosini (11/20/2015 8:51:00 AM)

Il titolo della poesia, Invictus, fa riferimento al latino e significa non vinto; venne dato dal critico
letterario Arthur Quiller-Couch, che riconobbe la grandezza della poesia aggiungendola alla sua
antologia fondamentale delle poesie inglesi.
Allet di 12 anni, William Ernest Henley rimase vittima del morbo di Pott, una grave forma di tubercolosi
ossea. Nonostante ci, riusc a continuare i suoi studi e a tentare una carriera giornalistica a Londra. Il
suo lavoro, per, fu interrotto continuamente dalla grave patologia, che allet di 25 anni lo costrinse
allamputazione di una gamba per sopravvivere. Henley non si scoraggi e continu a vivere per circa 30
anni con una protesi artificiale, fino allet di 53 anni.
La poesia Invictus fu scritta proprio sul letto di un ospedale.
La poesia era usata da Nelson Mandela per alleviare gli anni della sua prigionia durante lapartheid.
(Wiki) (Report)
Reply
* Sunprincess * (11/18/2015 7:47:00 AM)
....a superb write
I am the master of my fate (Report)
Reply
Vivek Mishra (10/29/2015 11:39:00 AM)

one of the absolute favourites :) (Report)
Reply
Natacha Bressler (9/26/2015 4:35:00 PM)

I love the line I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. so much, am thinking of getting
it as a tattoo (Report)
Reply
Sean Kearney (9/24/2015 7:05:00 AM)
To me it seems a pity that this fine poem will always be associated with Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma
City bomber, who chose the final couplet as his last words in the execution chamber. That said, he could
hardly have chosen a more apposite poem to quote, given his circumstances and political beliefs.
Knowing what McVeigh did, challenges the reader to consider whether unapologetic defiance - which
resonates in the poem as a whole, and with which McVeigh met his end - is always the noblest instinct,
or for that matter, justified. (Report)
Reply
Moira Cameron (3/2/2016 11:06:00 PM)
How interesting to read your comment. I read the poem for the first time moments ago. What it
made me think of was my own spirit of survival in the face of the various crises in my life. I didn't
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9/20/16, 4:18 PM
interpret words as being about defiance, but rather of being proud of having an indomitable spirit.
Thanks for offering another perspective. It is fascinating.
Seema Jayaraman (9/18/2015 8:30:00 AM)

I am the captain of my soul..luv the confidence and in charge attitude.. (Report)
Reply
Nichole Bradshaw (9/17/2015 1:52:00 AM)

An amazing Poet , this was an masterpiece ! (Report)
Reply
Dimond Vp (9/9/2015 9:45:00 AM)

this is my all time favorite poem i memorized it all! ! ! (Report)
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[ Invictus: W. E. Henley]
1/13/2016
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!"#-$"-%"$" '()*+"% ,-$./ 0!$)* (Bengali Version)
1/18/2016
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Read poems about / on: fate, night, thanks
Poem Submitted: Friday, January 3, 2003

Poem Edited: Monday, August 18, 2014
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