
''Invictus'' is a short poem by the United Kingdom poet William Ernest Henley, which is the source of a number of familiar cliche and quotations. The title is Latin for "unconquered." It was first published in 1875. The poem goes: :::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. In this poem, Henley gave the world the familiar phrases "my head is bloody, but unbowed" and "I am the master of my fate". These lines have been quoted many times by people who may not realize their source. They seem a hyperbole epitome of the "stiff upper lip" that popular culture has made a traditional British virtue, and a handy image of stoicism in the face of disaster. In the United States, this poem has become popular among paratroopers, many of whom commit it to memory to give them emotional support should they become a prisoner of war. In the climax of the 1942 in film ''King's Row'', the poem is recited by Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) to friend Drake McHugh (Ronald Reagan) in an effort to overcome the latter's depression following a permanent injury. It is also the name of an album by the Heavy Metal band Virgin Steele who use occasional lines of the poem as lyrics on the album. The poem recently gained further notoriety by being quoted by the United States domestic terrorism Timothy McVeigh, who quoted it in a communiqué released shortly before his capital punishment for murder committed in the Oklahoma City bombing. == See also == * If— by Rudyard Kipling == External links == *[http://www.skfriends.com/mcveigh-final-statement.htm Image of Timothy McVeigh's final statement] given the morning of his execution on June 11, 2001. *[http://www.godofthemachine.com/archives/00000309.html Intellectual discussion on "Invictus", two opposing interpretations.] British poems
I clearly remember Colin Powell reading Invictus to the American public on a national network. I remember it ''because'' he omitted the second stanza. I can't seem to remember when, though. Was it first Gulf War, post-9/11, or when? I've been looking for another source that references the reading, but I guess it wasn't considered terribly noteworthy at the time. Does anyone else remember this? User:SWAdair | User talk:SWAdair 11:28, 30 Mar 2004 (UTC) Shouldn't the poem itself be on wikisource? *Especially where poetry is concerned, short items are often included directly in the article. See Jabberwocky for another example. Long poems are best not included in the article, but short ones are fine, IMHO. User:SWAdair | User talk:SWAdair 03:46, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC) *The poem is already on wikisource. Should one of the redundancies be deleted? I think its better if the original text is on wikisource because that is what that database is for, IMHO. --Zippanova 05:26, 10 May 2005 (UTC) *m:Wiki is not paper. Right now I don't know of any way to keep the text of the poem on wikisource and make it display on this page. Anything that makes the text of the poem not display on this page will mean that the poem cannot be read on this page, and as such is inadequate. -- User:Ihcoyc
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Words begining with Invictus:
Invictus
Invictus
Invictus61101
Invictus_Records
Invictus
''Invictus'' is a short poem by the United Kingdom poet William Ernest Henley, which is the source of a number of familiar cliche and quotations. The title is Latin for "unconquered." It was first published in 1875. The poem goes: :::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. In this poem, Henley gave the world the familiar phrases "my head is bloody, but unbowed" and "I am the master of my fate". These lines have been quoted many times by people who may not realize their source. They seem a hyperbole epitome of the "stiff upper lip" that popular culture has made a traditional British virtue, and a handy image of stoicism in the face of disaster. In the United States, this poem has become popular among paratroopers, many of whom commit it to memory to give them emotional support should they become a prisoner of war. In the climax of the 1942 in film ''King's Row'', the poem is recited by Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) to friend Drake McHugh (Ronald Reagan) in an effort to overcome the latter's depression following a permanent injury. It is also the name of an album by the Heavy Metal band Virgin Steele who use occasional lines of the poem as lyrics on the album. The poem recently gained further notoriety by being quoted by the United States domestic terrorism Timothy McVeigh, who quoted it in a communiqué released shortly before his capital punishment for murder committed in the Oklahoma City bombing. == See also == * If— by Rudyard Kipling == External links == *[http://www.skfriends.com/mcveigh-final-statement.htm Image of Timothy McVeigh's final statement] given the morning of his execution on June 11, 2001. *[http://www.godofthemachine.com/archives/00000309.html Intellectual discussion on "Invictus", two opposing interpretations.] British poems
Invictus
I clearly remember Colin Powell reading Invictus to the American public on a national network. I remember it ''because'' he omitted the second stanza. I can't seem to remember when, though. Was it first Gulf War, post-9/11, or when? I've been looking for another source that references the reading, but I guess it wasn't considered terribly noteworthy at the time. Does anyone else remember this? User:SWAdair | User talk:SWAdair 11:28, 30 Mar 2004 (UTC) Shouldn't the poem itself be on wikisource? *Especially where poetry is concerned, short items are often included directly in the article. See Jabberwocky for another example. Long poems are best not included in the article, but short ones are fine, IMHO. User:SWAdair | User talk:SWAdair 03:46, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC) *The poem is already on wikisource. Should one of the redundancies be deleted? I think its better if the original text is on wikisource because that is what that database is for, IMHO. --Zippanova 05:26, 10 May 2005 (UTC) *m:Wiki is not paper. Right now I don't know of any way to keep the text of the poem on wikisource and make it display on this page. Anything that makes the text of the poem not display on this page will mean that the poem cannot be read on this page, and as such is inadequate. -- User:Ihcoyc
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
I
IA | IB | IC | ID | IE | IF | IG | IH | IJ | IK | IL | IM | IN | IO | IP | IR | IS | IT | IU | IW | IX | IY | IZ |Words begining with Invictus:
Invictus
Invictus
Invictus61101
Invictus_Records
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