INVICTUS

Out of the dark night that covers me,
...black as the pit, from pole to pole.
I thank whatever gods that may be,
...for my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance,
...I have not winced, not cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance,
...my head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears,
...looms but the horrors 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!!....

I understand this was written by William Ernest Henley on a night before he was executed in England, brave sould was he. I have not Googled or "Bing-ed" him yet to find out the circumstances, but I know that the former president of south Africa, Nelson Mandela recited this poem frequently during his dark days in prison before his release and ascendcy into power in his own country.

I have that poem in my den and often recite it for ispiration in those dark moments that come with advanced age and reflection that comes with reviewing events in one's life. Je ne regrette rien is not in my vocabulary.
Should I be afforded the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn't do ANYTHING  the same way.
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