[2021-08-20] Unconquered
I like poetry, though I find much of it beyond my comprehension. I might read ten poems but find only one that speaks to me. The same is true of many things: songs, recipes, television shows, books, paintings.
But when I come across a poem that resonates with me, it is glorious. One of my favourites is "Invictus" by British poet 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.
When Henley was 16, he experienced complications from tuberculosis, which resulted in the amputation of his left leg. A few years later, he was told that his right leg would also need to be amputated. Instead, he traveled from England to Scotland where he was treated by Joseph Lister, a pioneer of antiseptic surgery. Lister was able to save Henley's right leg. While recovering, Henley wrote the verses that became the poem "Invictus."
Invictus is Latin for unconquered or undefeated. It is not surprising that Henley, having taken his health into his own hands, would conclude his poem with these frequently quoted lines: "I am the master of my fate | I am the captain of my soul."
Among the most famous uses of the poem are these two: Nelson Mandela recited the poem to his fellow prisoners at Robben Island prison. And Winston Churchill alluded to the poem's conclusion in his September 9, 1941 speech to the British House of Commons about the war situation, saying "We still are master of our fate. We still are captain of our souls."
Henley's determination inspires me. I love his reference to his unconquerable soul, to his unbowed head, to his not being afraid, and to his being the master of his fate and the captain of his soul. I've liked this poem for years, but find it even more meaningful now that I've faced cancer.
