DISQUS

Shaun van Huyssteen · 1 year ago

To put all my thoughts into one word would most likely be...insperational. Sorry for the spelling I am still in school :P.

Armstrong · 1 year ago

This is also the motto of the Scottish clan 'Armstrong'. My brothers and I all have tattoos with "Invictus Maneo" in them.

Rhys · 1 year ago

Brilliant!

Inspirational!

Wonderful!

I shall print this, memorise it, and keep it with me forever.

Thank you.

SaintJer · 1 year ago

A monumental bit of literary motivation and one that should be keep in a motivational book. I keep one and I suggest that others do the same. Something about flipping through pages rather than clicking through bookmarks.

Jake · 1 year ago

One of my favorite poems of all time. I had to memorize it for one of my high school lit classes and it's still with me.

Chase · 1 year ago

Short and powerful. I think this may be favorite entry yet. Thanks.

Brett · 1 year ago

I'm glad to see you all have enjoyed the poem. It's definitely powerful.

PVW · 1 year ago

You are from Oklahoma I gather, you know this was Timothy McVeigh's final words?

Brett · 1 year ago

@PVW -
I didn't know that.

SaintJer · 1 year ago

@PVW - I would hope that these words would ring true to the human soul beyond the tarnish that a single person placed upon them by their choice of 'final words'.

PVW · 1 year ago

Oh i still love the poem. I just wanted to know if he knew or not!

The Baltimore Babe · 1 year ago

Exactly what I need this morning.

Robert · 1 year ago

I've got to admit, every time I see "Invictus" I think of Oklahoma City because this was Timmy McVeigh's final statement. I remember seeing that in the news years ago, and always stuck in my mind. The coward couldn't even write his own final words.

Ryan · 1 year ago

great poem, I actually just read this for the first time last night while reading the Dangerous Book for Boys.

PVW · 1 year ago

@Robert -

See I knew I wasn't alone.

Jonathan · 1 year ago

What is sad is that this poem was Timothy McVeigh's last written words after his trial.

Jonathan · 1 year ago

hey look at that, its probably good to read all the comments before you repeat what someone else Just said. Ha

Mr. Jones · 1 year ago

(McVeigh) "The coward couldn’t even write his own final words."

It reminds me of John Wilkes Booth. JWB was desperate to be a nationalist hero who was striking against tyranny. However, as JWB died, he muttered "...useless....useless..." because he realized his murderous actions were for naught, and the public was refusing to go along with him.

Which actually sets him apart from McVeigh, because he realized his personal mythology was all an illusion during his final days. McVeigh never achieved such insight, and died within the confines of his tiny head, and his tiny soul.

zaken · 1 year ago

A real man who was also a good Christian wrote this answer to Henley's poem about a hundred years ago:

The Soul's Captain

An Answer to "Invictus"

Art thou in truth?
Then what of him who bought thee with his blood?
Who plunged into devouring seas
And snatched thee from the flood?

Who bore for all our fallen race
What none but him could bear-
The God who died that man might live
And endless glory share?

Of what avail thy vaunted strength
Apart from his vast might?
Pray that his light may pierce the gloom
That thou mayest see aright.

Men are as bubbles on the wave,
As leaves upon the tree,
Thou, captain of thy soul! Forsooth,
Who gave that place to thee?

Free will is thine-free agency,
To wield for right or wrong;
But thou must answer unto him
To whom all souls belong.

Bend to the dust that "head unbowed,"
Small part of life's great whole,
And see in him and him alone,
The captain of thy soul.

Orson F. Whitney

zlindsey · 1 year ago

I first read this poem when I was in 8th grade. It has stuck with me ever since.

Jen Baker · 1 year ago

One of my all time favorite poems. Great to see it still rings true. Thanks!

Brian Waala · 1 year ago

@Shaun van Huyssteen - Take life like a man don't be a spineless wiener

tomdawg · 1 year ago

I am a Christian Man, strong as hell, hard as a rock. I love being a man, and thank my God every day that He made me one. No offense to women, but what man would want to walk around with a pussy, except perhaps a fag?
There is definitely a strong sense of defiant manliness captured by "Invictus". I so admired the poem that I used the word Invictus as a name of a character in a book I am writing. We need more defiance and less compliance if we are to be true men.
Because I follow Christ, I do not love everything in the poem "Invictus" in that it seems to assume there are many gods, and that man will somehow escape accountability to the True and Living Creator God. Whitney's "The Soul's Captain" captures that accountability well.
I enjoy both poems. The key to being a real Christian Man is to realize that follow Christ doesn't mean you become less Manly, more compliant to people, or certainly more feminine. Read "Why Men Hate Going To Church" and you will see what I mean.

Rashid · 1 year ago

"Invictus" captures the essence of manhood. In my view, this poem makes the assumption that men rely on the spirit of God--"whatever God one may follow"--for their unconquerable spirit. I had to memorize this poem during my college days and I definitely find it inspirational and encouraging, especially during an era when "whinning and crying" about things small and large, significant and insignificant, is the norm.

genderkid · 11 months ago

It's funny: I first read this in Annie On My Mind, a lesbian coming-of-age novel. So it isn't a poem just for men, but for anyone in need of courage.

Great poem, thanks for reminding us of it!

Micah · 11 months ago

I like this poem because it makes you think alittle bit more about certain things.

Lucy · 10 months ago

Manhood??!!!! This poem is about ANYONES courage & self-belief. It is a defiant stand against being broken or consumed by negativities in life. Whether your a man, woman or child. Its universal.

mery · 10 months ago

hi

Mike Fleming · 10 months ago

Invictus was our father's favorite poem. As a senior in High School, he was AAU Southeast Light Heavyweight weight lifting champion and heavyweight wrestling champion. He was the first Mr. CT in 1939 (actually Mr. Physical Culture of CT). He was the physical education and hand to hand combat instructor for the 508 PIR of the 82nd airborne, and pretty solidly "manned up" all his life. He was a great Dad and we will all miss him very much always.
Thanks for giving me a great way to share Invictus with my brother.

Violet Weed · 9 months ago

I love Invictus, it's a great poem to shout out loud whilst biking up a steep mountain road... but it truly misses the point. No one 'stands alone', not even me (although I have been living on my own since the age of 13, and now in my 60s... and most of my life I've lived alone, without 'benefit' of mate or pet. But not lonely. Still.... no one stands alone. God is always there, granting us Grace and laughing at His children's hubris to think they are 'masters of their fates' and 'captains of their souls'.

We are all going to be what we truly are now... dust in the wind, and masters of nothing.