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."


That up there is arguably William Henley's most valuable literary contribution to society. And it has absolutely nothing to do with my music.

From unconquerable prose to unconquerable bed head, Henley was the definition of a man's man. 

But the inspirational word that so aptly summarizes this gem of poetry does. Years ago, almost a decade now, I was visiting with two friends of mine. One of them was in dire straits, and our mutual pal, a well-respected theologian-to-be, asked her to consider and remember this phrase: 'Color me invictus.' You see life at the time had been heaping up on her in ways that would be overwhelming to most anyone. Crushing even. My friend insightfully pointed out then that sometimes when life is seemingly going to pulverize us with the sheer force of its weight, the only choice is to stubbornly fight and declare 'I will not yield!'

I was in awe at the time, both at my young friend's precociousness and at the power of those words laced with ancient Latin, translated into the word- unconquer. There's a force in language that English can't claim any exclusive rights to, and occasionally when I explore and dabble in other languages I'll be singularly impressed by a moment like this, in ways that English can't quite seem to duplicate.

The cult of the new rarely values what's past, assuming the future always holds the greatest value. I doubt nuke victims agree. 

So it was fitting in my eyes years later, to rearrange those words and their usage into my own prose as I explored things that are deeply personal to me, that I have no intention of ever sharing with anyone except a very few people. I say that partially because the notions in here are extremely private and I'd rather not have them out for public speculation. I've done that in the past, and it's never led to anything good. The other part is hopefully a less selfish one, in that I think art is best served in such a way that encourages self-reflection and careful thought. Ideally, to me, if a person sees art without knowing precisely what it means, perhaps they'll consider and recognize what it means to them. It's an exploration I personally believe to be one of the most valuable, and least sought for.