Invictus

Stanza I

¹Out of the night that covers me,

²Black as the pit from pole to pole,

³I thank whatever gods may be

⁴For my unconquerable soul.

Stanza II

⁵In the fell clutch of circumstance

⁶I have not winced nor cried aloud.

⁷Under the bludgeonings of chance

⁸My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Stanza III

⁹Beyond this place of wrath and tears

¹⁰Looms but the Horror of the shade,

¹¹And yet the menace of the years

¹²Finds and shall find me unafraid.

Stanza IV

¹³It matters not how strait the gate,

¹⁴How charged with punishments the scroll,

¹⁵I am the master of my fate,

¹⁶I am the captain of my soul.