Invictus by William Ernest Henley

I am the captain of my soul, I am the master of my fate.


I read this poem in 2004, when this article appeared in th Times Of India, when the convict for this bombing incident was sentenced.


this poem was his final statement. 




"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." 
-from Invictus" 
— William Ernest Henley