Poem to think on

When I was in Australia I went to the Irish shop in one of the malls and they had this little basket of tiny rolled up scrolls. On each of them there was a quotation. The one that I picked was:

I am the Master of my Fate:
I am the Captian of my Soul.
- William Ernest Henley

I just recently found out that this is actually the end of one of Henley's poems (didn't know he was a poet at the time), Invictus. These 2 little lines gave me much strength during those hard months in Australia, and now I find that the poem is even more inspiring. I thought I would share it with you all.

Invictus

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 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.

~William Ernest Henley