Invictus

I received the netflix dvd of Invictus and am currently watching it.  I want the world to know that the poem in which this movie bears the namesake, and Mandela recited while in prison is not by Mandela.  While a great man, a good many organizations, fraternities, individuals look to this poem for inspiration. 
"Invictus" is a short Victorian poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903).  He wrote it while in the hospital being treated for tuberculosis of the bone.  He lived at least another 25 + years after writing it. 
It's a powerful poem and reminds me a great deal of Kappa Kappa Psi, the honorary band fraternity I was in during college.  We recited this without even knowing all the background.  I'm happy to give it to you now. 

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.

As a movie, it's all right.  Kind of boring - but that could be the pot of coffee I drank this morning.  I do enjoy watching Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon's biceps.