Invictus (poem)

William Ernest Henley

Invictus is a short Victorian poem by William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was first published in 1875 in a book called the Book of Verses , then untitled. The title Invictus ( German  Unbeaten ) gave the poem Arthur Quiller-Couch in 1901 when he included it in The Oxford Book of English Verse , which he published.

The poem

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.

From the dark night that surrounds me through darkness I torment my mind. I thank what God may give that unconquerable is my soul. Despite the pain that my life was, there was no twitching, no raging. The blow of fate in great numbers. My head full of blood, but always raised. Beyond this place full of anger and tears, rises on the alp of the shadow world. Hyenas always find me in the world. The fear on my self shatters. No matter how narrow the gate, how big, no matter how much punishment I count. I am the master of my lot. I am the captain of my soul.

background

Henley was diagnosed with bone tuberculosis at the age of twelve . A few years later, his doctors amputated one of his legs below the knee. When the surgical removal of the other leg was proposed in 1873, Henley resisted this amputation. Eventually Joseph Lister was able to save the second leg at Edinburgh Hospital. The poem describes Henley's fight against the disease after a two-year convalescence period .

reception

• Nelson Mandela quoted from the poem and drew strength and comfort from it during the years of his imprisonment. This is taken up in the film Invictus - Unconquered . US President Barack Obama quoted the last stanza of the poem on the occasion of his speech at the memorial ceremony for Nelson Mandela on December 10, 2013. Stephan Weidner ( Der W ) has taken over passages in his song Justitia from album IV or based the lyrics on the poem.
• In 2001, the sentenced to death American terrorist Timothy McVeigh waived his right to speak one last word before his execution. Instead, he left a handwritten letter in which he quoted the poem.
• In 2002 the artist Swawa published the completely set poem on the album Hear the Voice with her solo project Carved in Stone .
• In 2014, the poem was set to music by Coldplay frontman Chris Martin for Prince Harry's Invictus Games and sung by John Sumner.
• In 2015, Lexxa Singh quoted the poem in Renegades - The Series .

Web links

Wikisource: Invictus  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ William Ernest Henley: A Biographical Sketch
2. ↑ Nelson Mandela: 10 surprising facts you probably didn't know - CNN
3. ↑ Mandela memorial: 10 key moments from Barack Obama's speech - City Press ( Memento of February 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
4. ↑ Der W - Justitia Lyrics
5. ^ Defiant McVeigh dies in silence. In: news.bbc.co.uk. June 11, 2001, accessed January 2, 2017 . 
6. ↑ 2004 - Hear the Voice; 11: Invictus. In: carvedinstone.de/discography
7. ↑ Coldplay's Chris Martin to write opening anthem for Prince Harry’s . In: Evening Standard . ( standard.co.uk [accessed November 11, 2018]).
8. ↑ Invictus Games Foundation: Invictus Games Anthem penned by Chris Martin, of Coldplay. September 10, 2014, accessed November 11, 2018 . 
9. ↑ Invictus in the Internet Movie Database (English) , Trivia section .