I. M. R.T. Hamilton Bruce (1846-1899) [Invictus]
I. M. R.T. Hamilton Bruce (1846-1899) [Invictus]
Original Text
William Ernest Henley, Poems (London: Macmillan and Co., 1920): 83-84. PR 4783 A36 1921 Robarts Library
2 Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
3I thank whatever gods may be
4 For my unconquerable soul.
5In the fell clutch of circumstance
6 I have not winced nor cried aloud.
7Under the bludgeonings of chance
8 My head is bloody, but unbowed.
9Beyond this place of wrath and tears
10 Looms but the Horror of the shade,
11And yet the menace of the years
12 Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
13It matters not how strait the gate,
14 How charged with punishments the scroll,
15I am the master of my fate:
16 I am the captain of my soul.
Notes
1] The title means "In Memory [of] R. T. Hamilton Bruce." Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
RPO 1996-2000.
Rhyme
Form