Uploaded December 2013 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
"Invictus", poem by William Ernest Henley. From a conversation with Charlie Rose (January 12, 2013).
While incarcerated on Robben Island prison, Nelson Mandela recited the poem to other prisoners and was empowered by its message of self-mastery.
See also the entire conversation with Charlie Rose here: youtu.be/d3dZngCraqs
More information here (Open Culture): openculture.com/2013/12/morgan-freeman-masterfully-recites-nelson-mandelas-favorite-poem-invictus.html
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.
The poem's last stanza was quoted by US President Barack Obama at the end of Obama's speech (Remembering Nelson Mandela) at Nelson Mandela's memorial service (10 December 2013) in South Africa.
"Invictus", poem by William Ernest Henley. From a conversation with Charlie Rose (January 12, 2013).
While incarcerated on Robben Island prison, Nelson Mandela recited the poem to other prisoners and was empowered by its message of self-mastery.
See also the entire conversation with Charlie Rose here: youtu.be/d3dZngCraqs
More information here (Open Culture): openculture.com/2013/12/morgan-freeman-masterfully-recites-nelson-mandelas-favorite-poem-invictus.html
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.
The poem's last stanza was quoted by US President Barack Obama at the end of Obama's speech (Remembering Nelson Mandela) at Nelson Mandela's memorial service (10 December 2013) in South Africa.
