Post #1: Invictus

  Stanza Analysis of:

Invictus by William Ernest Henley (1888)

"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."

Stanza Analysis:

 1. In the first stanza opening with "Out of the night that covers me," and contains four lines, the speaker pays homage to whatever deity is out there for giving him the strength to not falter in the face of adversity. The night that he talks about represents the dark times he is facing, stated in the lines "Out of the night that covers me, Black as the pit from pole to pole", stating that it is vast, but he can persevere.

2. Within the second stanza, the speaker states that throughout the tough times he is facing, he has not shown outward pain and even though he has taken a beating he will not submit, clearly shown when he says "I have not winced nor cried aloud" and "My head is bloody, but unbowed."

3. Stanza three is a metaphor on how the speaker remains steadfast and is tricky to understand in a sense.. What he basically says is beyond all of the pain he has gone through his main enemy are they remaining years that will pass throughout his life. That time of the years that will eventually come to pass will still find him unwavering in the face of adversity.

4. This last stanza is the greatest of any poem and has been quoted my movies and literature alike since it was published by the author long ago. What the speaker basically says is that no matter how narrow your chances are, how tough life and your consequences are ("It matters not how strait the game, How charged with punishments the scroll"), you are the one who controls your destiny and the outcome that you want to achieve ("I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul").

Sources: Invictus, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/51642
              William Ernest Henley: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/William_Ernest_Henley_young.jpg/220px-William_Ernest_Henley_young.jpg

 If there are any poems that you would like for me to do a stanza analysis on, just send an email to me at chrisgomez516@gmail.com