Invictus Essay

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Invictus

Invictus is a short Victorian work of poetry written in 1975, by English poet William Ernest Henley. The poetic piece of literature is based on Henley's struggle with tuberculosis and the amputation of his leg, along with other struggles he was facing in life. William Ernest Henley's Invictus depicts the power one must have to defeat adversity and obstacles that arise in life.

Invictus impacts leaders, such as myself and others of the twenty-first century by redefining the characteristics of a leader. Located in the second stanza of the poem Henley states:

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Henley describes a leader as someone who has faced misfortune, but has emerged stronger and wiser from their unfortunate situations. A leader is defined as someone who is confident, honest, but also is willing to acknowledge when they face difficulties and persevere through those circumstances. Henley motivates future leaders …show more content…

In life, when it seems you are at your weakest point, you are actually at your strongest point. This is the time where you take back control over your fate or destiny. The time where you erase and correct your story or form of art. Henley describes the basic human emotions, that individuals feel, but he also deliberately describes how to progress through the dark places in which we may find ourselves stuck. Desmond Tutu stated “Hope is being able to see that there is light, despite all the darkness”.

William Ernest Henley states in the fourth stanza of the poem:

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

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