Invictus

William Ernest Henley

To R. T. H. B.

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.

Fonte (versos 15-16): Carpeaux, O. M. 2011. História da literatura ocidental, vol. 4. Brasília, Senado Federal. Poema – originalmente sem título – publicado em livro em 1888.