Report in English-American Literature references: http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides7/Invictus.html https://suite101.com/a/an-analysis-of-william-ernest-henleys-poem-invictus-a355016 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invictus

1. INVICTUS
William Ernest Henley

2. INVICTUS
Nelson Mandela film, title inspired by this poem

3.  Born in Gloucester, England
 Educated at Crypt Grammar School and
University of St. Andrews
 A son of a struggling bookseller who
died during his teenage years (father)
 At 12, diagnosed with tubercular arthritis
that necessitated the amputation of one
of his legs.
 Later, he developed the same infection
to his other leg. Joseph Lister, saved his
second leg through radical surgery.
 Died at 53.

4.  He was in the hospital during his darkest hours when he
wrote the Invictus.
 He finally recovered after 20 months.
 Reason to like Ernest - a poet whose themes engage in
inner strengths and perseverance.
 Numerous collections include A Book of Verses (1888),
London Voluntaries (1893), and Hawthorne and
Lavender (1899).
 He edited the Scots Observer, later called National
Observer
 A close friend of Robert Louis Stevenson who based the
character of Long John Silver of Treasure Island in part
of Henley.

5.  Latin for unconquered, invincible, undefeated
 A lyric poem in four-quatrain (four-lined stanzas), 16 lines
 Written in 1875; published in 1892 in a collection Life and
Death (Echoes).
 Originally had no title until editor Arthur Quiller-Couch
included the poem in The Oxford Book of English Verse.
 A poem that shows how passionate and unconquered he is.

6. Stanza 1
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.
Abode of evils;
Pole to pole – everywhere
Instead of succumbing to despair, Henley was able to be thankful
that, though his body was beaten, his soul wasn’t.
Night is a metaphor for suffering of any kind. The speaker
compares the darkness of his suffering to the blackness of a
hellish pit stretching from the north pole to the south pole. In
line 4, unconquerable establishes the theme and a link with
the title (Latin for unconquerable).

7. Stanza 2
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Deadly grip
Draw back, as with fear or pain
Overcome (a stick/ armor)
Even in the midst of horrible circumstances, Henley refused to let
life defeat him, but instead he rose up and fought back
Believes that simply fate happened to him and he was still in control of his
own destiny
He has high spirits, regardless of what happened; His body may have
blood stains, but he is not ashamed.
ALLITERATION: clutch, circumstance, cried; not and nor; bludgeoning,
bloody, but and unbowed.

8. Stanza 3
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.
Death
Source of danger
Henley’s belief of afterlife
Even though he may not know what is to come, he is unafraid
and ready for life.

9. Stanza 4
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.
Narrow/Restricted
Despite of the narrow gate, the fell clutch of circumstance and
bludgeoning of chance, Henley, with the punishments allotted to
him, will still pass the gate.
Though his future has been established with a disease, he will
continue on and control his own fate and soul.

10. “I am the master of my FATE:
I am the captain of my
SOUL.” delegat e us t o somet hing unchangable/
Fat e may
reflection
theme
uncont r ollable but af t er all, we ar e t he ones in
cont r ol of our own dest iny and soul.
You cont r ol your own f at e t han anyone else ever
will.
I n t his wor ld t hat br ings us dest r uct ion, we can
st ill be vict or ious t hr ough our own lif e
awar eness and management .