William Ernest Henley was a British critic, editor, and poet who lived in Victorian England. He is best remembered for his poem ‘Invictus’ published 1875. He died in 1903 at the age of 53.
‘Invictus’ is W.E. Henley’s most famous and inspirational poem, that resonates with people worldwide. He wrote the poem in 1875 and dedicated it Scottish flour merchant named Robert Thomas Hamilton Bruce.
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.
‘A Love by the Sea’ is a summary of one man’s emotions surrounding the loss of a powerful love and his eventual farewell to that love.
“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul”, concluding lines of ‘Invictus’, contains an ironic meaning apart from the motivational aspect. Famous leaders had often quoted these lines for encouraging others to stand firm in the face of adversity.
‘I am the Reaper’ is a poem describing the intertwined nature of life and death and how one cannot exist without the other to balance it.
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