INVICTUS

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


This is the poem that kept Nelson Mandela and his dignity alive during his thirty years of prison.
Read it as it is really beautiful.
If you don't understand some of the words you can find a transtlation to Spanish after these words, as well as a photo of the author, a Victorian poet.

Click here