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.
By William Ernest Henley, 1875
This poem that you posted, is an Atheist’s poem. You knew that, right?
W. E. Henley (1849-1903)
William Ernest Henley was born in Gloucester and was crippled from boyhood with tuberculosis. This necessitated his having a leg amputated in Edinburgh where he began writing his “In Hospital” poems.
He was a friend of Robert Louis Stevenson, with whom he was to write four plays. He held a number of literary posts in Scotland and England during his career as an editor.
His published poetical works include Book of Verses (1888), The Song of the Sword (1892), London Voluntaries (1893), For England’s Sake (1900), and Hawthorn and Lavender (1901).
His best known poem is Invictus, a deathbed affirmation of his atheism.
http://www.englishverse.com/poets/henley_william_ernest
So you claim to be a medium who speaks to the dead?
I read the poem for what it says. It has a spiritual wisdom, as I see.