Invictus................

INVICTUS

by William Ernest Henley; 1849-1903

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.

Invictus means Unconquered.  I love this poem but I think that I read something different into it than the author intended. To me this is the power that God gives me through His son. I am all of this and more because of my Faith. I have no fear of death and what lies beyond. I am the master of my fate because I made the choice to follow Christ. He gave me this freedom.