WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY
(1849 - 1903)
Born in Gloucester, William Ernest Henley was educated at Crypt Grammar School and the University of Saint Andrews. In 1875, Henley was diagnosed with tuberculosis of the bone, which necessitated the amputation of one of his legs just below the knee. His other foot was saved by radical surgery. As he recovered in the infirmary he wrote poems, one such poem was 'Invictus'.
'Invictus' - Latin for 'Unconquered'
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.
In 2014, Prince Harry founded the Invictus Games.
It's now a major international sporting event
for injured servicemen and women.