Invictus

Invictus - William Ernest Henley

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.

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這首詩本來是沒有名字的，而"Invictus"則是其後來所被賦予的名字當中，最知名的一個，是由Arthur Quiller-Couch在他的詩選中納入這首詩時，所提的名字。這是一個拉丁文，意思是unconquered，也就是「不被征服」的意思。這也是前南非總統Nelson Mandela在其30年政治獄中鼓勵自己的詞句之一。

另外，我總是很容易被靈歌沈靜卻富有生機的力量所感動啊。