Invictus



by William Ernest Henley



Out of the Night that Covers Me

Black as the Pit, from Pole to Pole

I thank whatever God's May be

For my unconquerable Soul


In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced or 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 afraid


It matters not how straight the gate

How charged with punishment the Scroll

I am the Master of my Fate

I am the Captain of my Soul