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.
Poster Comment:
English professor Marion Hoctor: The meaning of 'Invictus'
June 11, 2001 Posted: 3:37 PM EDT (1937 GMT)
(CNN) -- Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh left the Victorian poem "Invictus" as his last message to the world before he was executed Monday. (See image of McVeigh's handwritten statement)
An expert in Medieval and 19th century poetry, Sister Marion Hoctor, professor of English at Nazareth College of Rochester, New York, spoke to CNN.com about the poem and its author, British poet, critic and editor William Ernest Henley.
CNN: Why this poem?
HOCTOR: I think the fact that this poem spoke to (McVeigh) in such a way that he used it as his last statement -- I think Timothy McVeigh really understood what this poem says. Although it is sometimes viewed as inspirational, it is really about stoicism.
McVeigh saw something of the anguish of this poem, but he uses it to justify something that neither the poet or anyone else would see as justifiable.
CNN: How does this poem fit in the prevailing philosophy of the Victorian age?
HOCTOR: What one would say about major Victorian writers and thinkers is that they set aside Christianity -- the dominant form of religion then -- some of them regretfully set it aside and said it belongs to another world. They believed there are dark and complex questions in this world that religion cannot address.
The poem is powerful expression of stoicism -- you fall back on your own resources, you don't fall back on religious resources. If you are going to truly be "invictus" -- which is Latin for unconquered -- you must be true to your own convictions.
archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/06/11