President Barack Obama at the end of his speech at the memorial service of Nelson Mandela in South Africa (10 December 2013), and published on the front cover of the 14 December 2013 issue of The Economist. The poem's last stanza was quoted by U.S.The phrase "bloody, but unbowed" was the headline used by the Daily Mirror on the day after the 7 July 2005 London bombings.James Stockdale recalls being passed the last stanza, written with rat droppings on toilet paper, from fellow prisoner David Hatcher. Burmese opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi stated: "This poem had inspired my father, Aung San, and his contemporaries during the independence struggle, as it also seemed to have inspired freedom fighters in other places at other times.".Nelson Mandela, while incarcerated at Robben Island prison, recited the poem to other prisoners and was empowered by its message of self-mastery.In a speech to the House of Commons on 9 September 1941, Winston Churchill paraphrased the last two lines of the poem, stating "We are still masters of our fate.The established title "Invictus" was added by editor Arthur Quiller-Couch when the poem was included in the Oxford Book of English Verse (1900). The poem was published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, Book of Verses, with no title, but would later be reprinted in 19th-century newspapers under various titles, including: stands for "in memoriam." Īrthur Quiller-Couch, the editor who came up with the title, "Invictus" Title The 1900 edition of Henley's Poems, published after Bruce's death, altered the dedication to "I. B."-a reference to Robert Thomas Hamilton Bruce, a successful Scottish flour merchant, baker, and literary patron. The second edition of Henley's Book of Verses added a dedication "To R. Later, the fourth stanza of the poem alludes to a phrase from the King James Bible, which says, at Matthew 7:14, "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."ĭespite Henley's evocative tellings of perseverance and determination, worry was on his mind in a letter to a close companion, William Ernest Henley later confided, "I am afeard my marching days are over" when asked about the condition of his leg. There is agreement that much of the dark descriptions in the opening lines make reference to Hell. Those who have taken time to analyze "Invictus" have also taken notice of religious themes, or the lack thereof, that exist in this piece. In the second stanza, Henley refers to the strength that helped him through a childhood defined by his struggles with tuberculosis when he says "I have not winced nor cried aloud." In the fourth stanza, Henley alludes to the fact that each individual's destiny is under the jurisdiction of themselves, not at the mercy of the obstacles they face, nor other worldly powers. Įach stanza takes considerable note of William Ernest Henley's perseverance and fearlessness throughout his early life and over twenty months under Lister's care. The poem is most known for its themes of willpower and strength in the face of adversity, much of which is drawn from the horrible fate assigned to many amputees of the day- gangrene and death. With four stanzas and sixteen lines, each containing eight syllables, the poem has a rather uncomplicated structure. Latin for "unconquered", the poem "Invictus" is a deeply descriptive and motivational work filled with vivid imagery. A reading of the poem "Invictus" Analysis
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |