INVICTUS Out of the night which covers me Black as the pit from pole to pole I thank whatever gods may be For mine unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of curcumstance I have not winced, nor cried aloud Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed Beyond this vale 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 fate I am the captain of my soul.