Invictus, een gedicht

"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."

Geschreven in 1875 door William Ernest Henley, die nog maar 16 jaar oud was toen zijn been afgezet moest worden door complicaties van tuberculose.

Ikzelf haal hier een hoop kracht uit, ik hoop jullie ook! Hou vol kanjers!