Inviticus (by William Ernest Henley)

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.

 

[We both loved the poem and Tim recited it in his third-grade class.]

 

[7grizzly]

Thank you, 暖冬, for liking. I found this in "The Dangerous Book for Boys." Happy New Year to you!

[暖冬cool夏]

Thanks for sharing this poem. I like it too, and found three new words-- "fell" as an adjective, "strait" as an adjective (meaning "narrow", archaic) and 'bludgeon" as a verb:)) Tim recited in his third-grade, good for him!
Happy New Year!