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INVICTUS
- William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
-The imagery is strong
-The dark covers everything in black
-The night symbolizes hopelessness, a depressive medium in which his soul is lost.
-The second line reinforces the first black pit suggesting that this was a deep depression, a spiritual darkness covering the whole world of the speaker
-The future cant be seen/ The future is bleak
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
-The poet acknowledges that help was given somewhere, somehow perhaps by a deity/deities not by any named God, he has not given any identity to the blessing in disguise.
-The speaker implies that his unconquerable soul is a gift from a godly realm
-It is not a prayer, but is a sense of gratitude
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
-The poet says that despite being tightly held, in an awful situation he didn’t once give in or show signs of weakness.
-The poet is the victim of circumstances
-Though he was heavily burdened with a lot of struggles in life, he never complained & continued living like any normal person.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
-The speaker here is suggesting that despite being bothered and wounded there is still no subservient or self-pitying bow of the head.
-The head is still held high
-The poet is thus strong willed, proud & does not cow down to the pressures of physical suffering.
-The problem he encountered is grave but no matter what, he will stand tall & is determined to overrule it.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
-This stanza relates to death & being unafraid of it.
-Beyond the trouble & misfortune the poet is encountering now, there is also the inevitable or unavoidable fear of death.
-The speaker looks into the future taking into account all the anger & pain associated with life on earth & is not afraid of death which appears to threaten him.
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
-The poet boldly states that he is unafraid to encounter the pangs of old age and death
-Infact the speaker has been unafraid throughout his ordeal which has lasted years & he yet continues to shows a brave face
-He thus has clear intentions to survive against all odds.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
-This is an allusion to the Bible in the New Testament from the gospel of Mathew 7:13/14
- “Strait is the gate & narrow is the way, which leadeth into life & few there be that find it.”
-This is the gate that leads to the heavenly life
-The next line is an inference to the depths of hell- the punishments being the sins written down during a lifetime.
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
-A line which inspire many
-A nautical imagery is portrayed where the speaker refers to himself as a captain of his life.
-He comments that it does not matter how narrow the path is to the gates of after life, he will make it with no problems.
-And when he is being judged no matter how many punishments are listed, he will decide his own fate and steer his own course.
Summary:-
In this poem, the poet portrays his personal perspective in tackling situations in the face of adversities. H conveys on universal message- No mater what life throws at you, no matter how bad it is, never let it crumble you and pull you down. He brigs out the immense strength of the human spirit in the depths of adversity. He illustrates how in the darkest times, even when fate is against you the human spirit is strong enough to withstand all the pain and struggles and push trough it and emerge victorious...
Invictus is the Latin word for undefeated. The speaker in the poem thanks god for his indomitable spirit in fighting heavy odds even when he cannot see the end clearly. He has not been cowed down/ disheartened by his misfortune, but has instead decided to hold his head high. Apart from enduring death and whatever may lie beyond it as he is growing old. And yet he is not afraid of the future. He is prepared to face the end and the consequences of his actions on earth. This is because he is confident that he is in control of his spirit and knows how to steer it through life & death.