Words of the Week #18 - Nelson Mandela

Mandiba

The struggle, determination and inspiration that has been Nelson Mandela's life is and will be known and admired by our generation and generations to come. While incarcerated on Robben Island Prison, Nelson Mandela would read the following poem to other inmates. I hope we are able to find inspiration in this and strive to emulate the strength and compassion that Nelson Mandela and other who have fought for the same goals in our own lives. This is "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley:

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 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.

- William Ernest Henley (1849-1903)