Re-read the excerpt from “Invictus,” beginning on page 292. This is the poem Richard kept displayed in his room. The last two lines of the poem are: “I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul.”
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.
What is the main sentiment or message of the poem? And how does it make you feel?
