IDEOLOGIES
AND INSPIRATION
Invictus 
                         Out of the night that covers me, 
                         Black as a 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 straight the gate, 
                     How charged with punishments the scroll, 
                           I am the master of my faith. 
                           I am the captain of my soul. 

Ernest Henley