Invictus
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:DMCA
Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.
| Invictus | |
|---|---|
| by William Ernest Henley | |
| Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found. Portrait of William Ernest Henley by Leslie Ward, published in Vanity Fair, 26 November 1892. | |
| Written | 1875 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | Script error: No such module "WikidataIB". |
"Invictus" is a short poem by English poet William Ernest Henley. Henley wrote it in 1875, and in 1888 he published it in his first volume of poems, Book of Verses, in the section titled "Life and Death (Echoes)".
Background
When Henley was 16 years old, his left leg required amputation below the knee owing to complications arising from tuberculosis.[1]Template:Rp In the early 1870s, after seeking treatment for problems with his other leg at Margate, he was told that it would require a similar procedure.[2]
He instead chose to travel to Edinburgh in August 1873 to enlist the services of distinguished English surgeon Joseph Lister,[1]Template:Rp[3] who was able to save Henley's remaining leg after multiple surgical interventions on the foot.[4] While recovering in the infirmary, he was moved to write the verses that became the poem "Invictus". A memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism—the "stiff upper lip" of self-discipline and fortitude in adversity, which popular culture rendered into a British character trait—"Invictus" remains a cultural touchstone.[5]
Poem
INVICTUS
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.
Analysis
Page Module:Side box/styles.css has no content.Page Template:Sister project/styles.css has no content.
With the title being Latin roughly for "unconquered",[6] the poem "Invictus" is a deeply descriptive and motivational work filled with vivid imagery. With four stanzas and sixteen lines, each containing eight syllables, the poem has a rather uncomplicated structure.[7] The poem is most known for its themes of willpower and strength in the face of adversity, much of which is drawn from the horrible fate assigned to many amputees of the day—gangrene and death.[8]
Each stanza takes considerable note of William Ernest Henley's perseverance and fearlessness throughout his early life and over twenty months under Lister's care.[7] In the second stanza, Henley refers to the strength that helped him through a childhood defined by his struggles with tuberculosis when he says "I have not winced nor cried aloud."[2][9] In the fourth stanza, Henley alludes to the fact that each individual's destiny is under the jurisdiction of themselves, not at the mercy of the obstacles they face, nor other worldly powers.
Those who have taken time to analyze "Invictus" have also taken notice of religious themes, or the lack thereof, that exist in this piece. There is agreement that much of the dark descriptions in the opening lines make reference to Hell. Later, the fourth stanza of the poem alludes to a phrase from Jesus's Sermon on the Mount in the King James Bible, which says, at Matthew 7:14, "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."
Despite Henley's evocative tellings of perseverance and determination, worry was on his mind; in a letter to a close companion, William Ernest Henley later confided, "I am afeard my marching days are over"[7] when asked about the condition of his leg.
Publication history
The second edition of Henley's Book of Verses added a dedication "To R. T. H. B."—a reference to Robert Thomas Hamilton Bruce, a successful Scottish flour merchant, baker, and literary patron.[10] The 1900 edition of Henley's Poems, published after Bruce's death, altered the dedication to "I. M. R. T. Hamilton Bruce (1846–1899)," whereby I. M. stands for "in memoriam."[11]
Title
The poem was published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, Book of Verses, with no title,[12] but would later be reprinted in 19th-century newspapers under various titles, including:
- "Myself"[13]
- "Song of a Strong Soul"[14]
- "My Soul"[15]
- "Clear Grit"[16]
- "Master of His Fate"[17]
- "Captain of My Soul"[18]
- "Urbs Fortitudinis"[19]
- "De Profundis"[20]
The established title "Invictus" was added by editor Arthur Quiller-Couch when the poem was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse (1900).[21][22]
Notable uses
History
- Before his death in 1926, labour activist and American presidential candidate Eugene V. Debs wrote down the final lines of the poem on a piece of paper, which was preserved by his family as his last utterance.[23]
- In a speech to the House of Commons on 9 September 1941, Winston Churchill paraphrased the last two lines of the poem, stating "We are still masters of our fate. We still are captains of our souls."[24]
- Nelson Mandela, while incarcerated at Robben Island prison, recited the poem to other prisoners and was empowered by its message of self-mastery.[25][26]
- Former State Counsellor of Myanmar and Nobel Peace laureate[27] Aung San Suu Kyi stated: "This poem had inspired my father, Aung San, and his contemporaries during the independence struggle, as it also seemed to have inspired freedom fighters in other places at other times."[28]
- The poem was read by U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. James Stockdale recalls being passed the last stanza, written with rat droppings on toilet paper, from fellow prisoner David Hatcher.[29]
- The poem's last stanza was quoted by U.S. President Barack Obama at the end of his speech at the memorial service of Nelson Mandela in South Africa (10 December 2013), and published on the front cover of the 14 December 2013 issue of The Economist.[30]
- The poem was chosen by Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh as his final statement before his execution.[31][32][33]
- The perpetrator of the Christchurch mosque shootings in New Zealand in 2019 cited "Invictus".[34]
- According to his sister, before becoming a civil rights leader, American Congressman John Lewis used to recite the poem as a teenager and continued to refer to it for inspiration throughout his life.[35]
- The Belgian black / folk metal band Ancient Rites used the poem for their song of the same name on the album Rvbicon.[36]
Film
- Nelson Mandela is depicted in Invictus (2009) presenting a copy of the poem to Francois Pienaar, captain of the national South African rugby team, for inspiration during the Rugby World Cup—though at the actual event he gave Pienaar a text of "The Man in the Arena" passage from Theodore Roosevelt's Citizenship in a Republic speech delivered in France in 1910.[37]
Sports
- The Invictus Games were founded by Prince Harry, the Ministry of Defence, and Sir Keith Mills. Prior to the inaugural games in London in 2014, entertainers including Daniel Craig and Tom Hardy, and athletes including Louis Smith and Iwan Thomas, read the poem in a promotional video.[38][39]
See also
Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 404: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').
- If—, Rudyard Kipling
- The Man in the Arena, Theodore Roosevelt
- "Let No Charitable Hope", Elinor Wylie
- Agency (philosophy)
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Goldman, Martin (1987). Lister's Ward. Adam Hilger. ISBN 0852745621.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Faisal, Arafat (October 2019). "Reflection of William Ernest Henley's Own Life Through the Poem Invictus" (PDF). International Journal of English, Literature and Social Science. 4: 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2024 – via Google Scholar.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cohen, Edward (April 2004). "The second series of W. E. Henley's hospital poems". Yale University Library Gazette. 78 (3/4): 129. JSTOR 40859569.
- ^ "Invictus analysis". jreed.eshs Script error: No such module "webarchive".
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Spartans and Stoics – Stiff Upper Lip – Icons of England". Icons of England. 12 December 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Latinitium – Online Latin Dictionaries". Latinitium. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cohen, Edward H. (1974). "Two Anticipations of Henley's 'Invictus'". Huntington Library Quarterly. 37 (2): 191–196. doi:10.2307/3817033. ISSN 0018-7895. JSTOR 3817033. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Gangrene – Symptoms and causes". Mayo Clinic. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Henley, William Ernest (17 July 1889). A book of verses /. New York. hdl:2027/hvd.hwk9sr.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Henley, William Ernest (1891). A book of verses (Second ed.). New York: Scribner & Welford. pp. 56–57. hdl:2027/hvd.hwk9sr.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Henley, William Ernest (1900). Poems (Fourth ed.). London: David Nutt. p. 119.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Henley, William Ernest (1888). A book of verses. London: D. Nutt. pp. 56–57. OCLC 13897970. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Myself". Weekly Telegraph. Sheffield (England). 15 September 1888. p. 587.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Song of a Strong Soul". Pittsburgh Daily Post. Pittsburgh, PA. 10 July 1889. p. 4.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."My Soul". Lawrence Daily Journal. Lawrence, KS. 12 July 1889. p. 2.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Clear Grit". Commercial Advertiser. Buffalo, NY. 12 July 1889. p. 2.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Master of His Fate". Weekly Times-Democrat. New Orleans, LA. 5 February 1892. p. 8.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Captain of My Soul". Lincoln Daily Call. Lincoln, NE. 8 September 1892. p. 4.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Urbs Fortitudinis". Indianapolis Journal. Indianapolis, IN. 6 December 1896. p. 15.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."De Profundis". Daily World. Vancouver, BC. 7 October 1899. p. 3.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch, ed. (1902). The Oxford Book of English Verse, 1250–1900 (1st (6th impression) ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 1019. hdl:2027/hvd.32044086685195. OCLC 3737413.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wilson, A.N. (11 June 2001). "World of books". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."EUGENE V. DEBS DIES AFTER LONG ILLNESS; Socialist Leader Succumbs to Heart Ailments After Month in Illinois Sanitarium. ONCE LEADER OF RAIL UNION He Led Pullman Strike In 1895 -- Served Nearly Three Years In Prison for Opposing War. (Published 1926)". 21 October 1926. Archived from the original on 24 August 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
- ^ "Famous Quotations and Stories" Script error: No such module "webarchive".. Winston Churchill.org.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Boehmer, Elleke (2008). "Nelson Mandela: a very short introduction". Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780192803016.
Invictus, taken on its own, Mandela clearly found his Victorian ethic of self-mastery
- ^ Daniels, Eddie (1998) There and back
- ^ Independent, 8/30/17
- ^ Aung San Suu Kyi. 2011. "Securing Freedom Script error: No such module "webarchive"." (lecture transcript). Reith Lectures, Lecture 1: Liberty. UK BBC Radio 4.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Stockdale, James (1993). "Courage Under Fire: Testing Epictetus's Doctrines in a Laboratory of Human Behavior" (PDF). Hoover Institution, Stanford. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 October 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2014.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Economist Dec 14th, 2013". The Economist. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Quayle, Catherine (11 June 2001). "Execution of an American Terrorist". Court TV. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cosby, Rita (12 June 2001). "Timothy McVeigh Put to Death for Oklahoma City Bombings". FOX News. Archived from the original on 13 April 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."McVeigh's final statement". the Guardian. 11 June 2001. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kornhaber, Spencer (16 March 2019). "When Poems of Resilience Get Twisted for Terrorism". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 21 November 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
- ^ "‘Invictus’ was among John Lewis’s favorite poems. It captures his indomitable spirit. Script error: No such module "webarchive".." The Washington Post. 17 July 2020.
- ^ |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzJNhqVzTOE
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Dominic Sandbrook (30 January 2010). "British leaders: they're not what they were". The Daily Telegraph (UK). Archived from the original on 1 February 2010.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy & Will.i.am recite 'Invictus' to support the Invictus Games". YouTube. 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."When are Prince Harry's Invictus Games and what are they?". The Daily Telegraph. 8 May 2016. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
External links
Template:Wikisource/outer core
- Template:Wikisource-inline
- The original untitled poem in Henley's A Book of Verses Script error: No such module "webarchive". at Google Books.
- File:Speaker Icon.svg Invictus public domain audiobook at LibriVox
