Poem Assessment

Invictus by William Earnest Henley

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. 


This is my best interpretation of the nine poetic elements:
The author is a young man over coming extreme misfortune and tragedy. The poem doesn't seem to be set in any specific time, but the main setting is a dark night. The poem is organized in stanzas. Each stanza separates ideas while still tieing into the main message. The author uses many literary elements like personification and metaphors to describe the circumstance and misfortune. The theme of the novel is the overcoming of tragedy and the taking control of one's own destiny. Many words are crucial to the meaning of the poem. "Wrath" for example is used in an effective, but different way to convey the message of depressed frustration. The author also uses a lot of imagery. In the first stanza he uses imagery of a dark night to set a mood. The most important words are wrath, horror, circumstance, and master. These words all convey the message of overcoming misfortune. The author's tone is sad but also optimistic towards the subject. He is sad about the tragedy he faced in the beginning, but very optimistic about staying strong and controlling his own destiny in the end.