Invictus

I watched Invictus with my husband last night.  It is the film of Nelson Mandela and his involvement with the South African Rugby team.  This amazing man, held prisoner for 27 years, made a choice to be hopeful, and often sought solace in a 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.

William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)

The last two lines are very meaningful to me.  Enjoy.