Invictus
Out of the night that cover 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 captain of my soul.
该诗由英国诗人威廉·亨里在病榻上所著。威廉自幼体弱多病，一只脚被截肢，但他一生都在于病魔抗争，不向命运低头。诗名Invictus是拉丁文“不可征服”的意思。该诗不仅激励作者本身，他也是南非国父曼德拉最喜欢的诗，曼德拉曾在狱中多次默念该诗以激励身陷囹圄的自己。
摘录来自: “百词斩爱阅读”