<P> The established title "Invictus" (Latin for "unconquered") was added by editor Arthur Quiller - Couch when the poem was included in The Oxford Book of English Verse (1900). </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> In 1875 one of Henley's legs required amputation due to complications arising from tuberculosis . Immediately after the amputation, he was told that his other leg would require a similar procedure . He chose instead to enlist the services of the distinguished English surgeon Joseph Lister, who was able to save Henley's remaining leg after multiple surgical interventions on the foot . While recovering in the infirmary, he was moved to write the verses that became "Invictus". This period of his life, coupled with recollections of an impoverished childhood, were primary inspirations for the poem, and play a major role in its meaning . A memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism--the "stiff upper lip" self - discipline and fortitude in adversity, which popular culture rendered into a British character trait, "Invictus" remains a cultural touchstone . With the message of displaying fortitude in the face of adversity, the poem evokes Victorian stoicism and a "stiff upper lip". </P> <P> The fourth stanza alludes to a phrase from the King James Bible, which has, at Matthew 7: 14, </P>

Master of your own fate captain of your own soul