Invictus - 9/26/10

This is a poem that Nelson Mandela read every day while incarcerated on Robbin Island and still reads today, even though he is in his 90s.  He was in prison for taking a stand against apartheid, and uniting his beloved South Africa regardless of color or creed.  He never gave up and he went on to be the President of South Africa for many years.  He speaks several languages fluently and supports the present government without question because he knows how difficult life can sometimes be.  If you haven't seen this movie, I would say you should do so.  It would inspire you to be a better person.

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.

William Ernest Henley