Invictus by William Ernest Henley
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.
"Invictus" was written by the English poet William Ernest Henley. The poem is a short
Victorian, written in 1875 and published in 1888. The poem was originally untitled, but in 1900
Arthur Quiller-Couch included the poem along with the title Invictus" in his book The Oxford
Book of English Verse.
In order to completely understand the meaning of this poem, it is important to know the life
of William Ernest Henley.
I. Information about the author of the poem
Born in Gloucester, England, poet, editor, and critic William Ernest Henley was educated at
Crypt Grammar School, where he studied with the poet T.E. Brown. Later on, he attended the
University of St. Andrews.
His father was a struggling bookseller who died when Henley was a teenager. At age 12
Henley was diagnosed with tubercular arthritis that necessitated the amputation of one of his legs
just below the knee; the other foot was saved only through a radical surgery performed by Joseph
Lister. As he healed in the infirmary, Henley began to write poems, including Invictus, which
concludes with the oft-referenced lines: I am the master of my fate; / I am the captain of my
soul.
Henleys poems often engage themes of inner strength and perseverance. His numerous
collections of poetry include A Book of Verses (1888), London Voluntaries (1893) and
Hawthorn and Lavender (1899).
Henley edited the Scots Observer (which later became the National Observer), through
which he befriended writer Rudyard Kipling, and the Magazine of Art, in which he lauded the
work of emerging artists James McNeill Whistler and Auguste Rodin. Henley was a close friend of
Robert Louis Stevenson, who reportedly based his Long John Silver character in Treasure
Island in part on Henley.
II. Analysis
Structure
In terms of structure, we can observe that the poem "Invictus" is made up of sixteen lines and
is divided into four stanzas. The rhyme scheme is abab-cdcd-efefef-ghgh. The writing is short and
contains just eight syllables to each line.
The poem can be easily analyzed by linking the text itself to the authors life.
In the first stanza, William Ernest Henley is implying someone's life being surrounded by the
darkness of their life. Every aspect of their life is like the 'pit' or hell. However, they express their
story of how they overcame their troubles and how they feel that nothing can get in their way
anymore.
Looking over the second stanza, we understand that the poet is describing someone who has
had a hard life. They have encountered many troubles and circumstances, but have never given up
pushing through them. After their life has been beaten down, they are still strong and hopeful.
'Bludgeoning' has the definition of beating or forcing down. Henley is implying that someone has
been beaten down, but they are still capable and full of endurance to conquer the troubles of the
life ahead of them.
The lines in the third stanza explain how the individual differentiates the fact that there will
be circumstances in the future that he cannot prevent from happening. However, the past troubled
years has prepared the individual for the future ones. The approaching years must stand and be
ready to find the person unafraid and ready to overcome the hardships that the forth comings will
provide.
William Ernest Henley finishes his poem with this last and famous stanza. These words are
basically interpreting how a person is the controller of their own life. Whatever they encounter in
life, or whatever life throws at them, they are the 'captain of their soul;', they can manage their own
life. Life is a struggle and is not absolute. However, with the authority that they have over their
life, they can proceed on the road of their choice. They are the master of their fate, and the captain
of their soul.
Theme
The theme of the poem is the will to survive in the face of a severe test. Henley himself
faced such a test. After contracting tuberculosis of the bone in his youth, he suffered a tubercular
infection when he was in his early twenties that resulted in amputation of a leg below the knee.
Symbols
The Night in the first stanza is a metaphor for suffering of any kind. It is also part of a
hyperbole in which the speaker compares the darkness of his suffering to the blackness of a hellish
pit stretching from the north pole to the south pole.
The second stanza begins with another metaphor, comparing circumstance to a creature with
a deadly grip (fell clutch).
In line 10, shade is a metaphor for death. In this same line, horror suggests that the
speaker believes in an afterlife in spite of the seemingly agnostic third line of the first stanza. If
there were no afterlife, there could be no horror after death. Menace of the years is a metaphor
for advancing age.
III. Reviews
"Invictus" appears in prestigious anthologies, including Modern British Poetry (New York,
Harcourt, 1920).
Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela both recited from it to stir their listeners. So did
Martin Luther King Jr.
In Best Remembered Poems, Martin Gardner writes, The poem is a favorite of secular
humanists who see themselves and the human race as unconquerable masters of their fate in a
mindless universe that cares not a fig for what happens to them. (Mineola, N.Y.: Courier Dover
Publications, 1992).
Nevertheless, many critics ridicule the poem as mediocre at best, and most modern
anthologies refuse to admit it to their pages. One reason for the snubbing is the poem's seemingly
melodramatic tone, like that of a windy politician declaiming from a soapbox. Another reason is its
singsong versification.
IV. Connection to arts
This poem is a masterpiece and is still referenced to this day. The movie titled "Invictus"
refers to this very poem throughout the film. It is also read within "The Capture of the Green River
Killer", and the words of "Invictus" were the last words spoken by Timothy McVeigh.
V. Bibliography
http://www.poemofquotes.com/
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/
https://sites.google.com/site/audreyheshs/home/invictus-interpretation
http://cummingsstudyguides.net/
