(Originally posted 22 Dec 2006)
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
In this very short quest to share my favorite words, Invictus has to be on the list. I'm not one of those "daily quote" people. In fact, I'm almost out of the ones that I keep memorized and repeat periodically to provide the verbal cue I need to avoid doing something obviously stupid. (Which I sometimes ignore anyway) But there ARE some things that have been said that bear repeating.
Like Invictus.
The word is Latin for unconquerable. The man who wrote it wasn't just putting pretty words together. Mr. Henley was a double amputee, thanks to tuberculosis of the bone. He still managed to have a very successful life. Here's the kicker--he wrote Invictus ... from a hospital bed.
If you've ever wondered, HERE is what makes a man an amazing writer.
Having both your legs chopped off because your doctor doesn't really know what he's doing ... just as you're getting to be college aged and the girls are starting to dig you. Continuing on to not only make the best of it --- but figuring out how to be an optimist for 30 plus year more, then penning some words FROM YOUR HOSPITAL BED that manage to encourage and challenge a sniveling cynic like Stew a century or so later. THAT is an amazing man and a phenomenal writer.
Damn dude, YOU ROCK!
I would never expect anyone to memorize anything, but the word itself has brought me encouragement at times.
Sitting at your computer, try this stupid little exercise and tell me if I'm crazy or not. Repeat the word at the bottom of the page five times out loud in your loudest speaking voice. No, I mean it. Really. Try this. The question on the table, the one I'd like you to answer is this ...
Doesn't it actually make you feel a little stronger? I wonder if that counts as onomatopoeia.
Here's the word.
"
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
In this very short quest to share my favorite words, Invictus has to be on the list. I'm not one of those "daily quote" people. In fact, I'm almost out of the ones that I keep memorized and repeat periodically to provide the verbal cue I need to avoid doing something obviously stupid. (Which I sometimes ignore anyway) But there ARE some things that have been said that bear repeating.
Like Invictus.
The word is Latin for unconquerable. The man who wrote it wasn't just putting pretty words together. Mr. Henley was a double amputee, thanks to tuberculosis of the bone. He still managed to have a very successful life. Here's the kicker--he wrote Invictus ... from a hospital bed.
If you've ever wondered, HERE is what makes a man an amazing writer.
Having both your legs chopped off because your doctor doesn't really know what he's doing ... just as you're getting to be college aged and the girls are starting to dig you. Continuing on to not only make the best of it --- but figuring out how to be an optimist for 30 plus year more, then penning some words FROM YOUR HOSPITAL BED that manage to encourage and challenge a sniveling cynic like Stew a century or so later. THAT is an amazing man and a phenomenal writer.
Damn dude, YOU ROCK!
I would never expect anyone to memorize anything, but the word itself has brought me encouragement at times.
Sitting at your computer, try this stupid little exercise and tell me if I'm crazy or not. Repeat the word at the bottom of the page five times out loud in your loudest speaking voice. No, I mean it. Really. Try this. The question on the table, the one I'd like you to answer is this ...
Doesn't it actually make you feel a little stronger? I wonder if that counts as onomatopoeia.
Here's the word.
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