by William Ernest Henley, an English poet, writer, critic, and editor. 23 August 1849 – 11 July 1903.

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.

The title, "Invictus", is Latin that is roughly translated as "unconquered".

The 1875 poem was one of Henley's "hospital poems" that were composed during his isolation as a consequence of early, life-threatening battles with tuberculosis. The poem is a memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism—the "stiff upper lip" of self-discipline and fortitude in adversity, which popular culture rendered into a British character trait.