In the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley, the writer has given us an insight into the theme contained in the title itself. Invictus means invincible or undetectable in Latin. Knowing that this poem was written by Henley while he was in the hospital being treated for bone tuberculosis only strengthens my thesis that this poem is about strength and perseverance in the face of death. to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The first stanza is about strength and death The entire stanza basically states that the author has awakened from. black knight he describes in the poem He was grateful to have woken up because he does not wish to die, he knows that he will die one day He states this in the sentence “. I thank all the gods for my invincible soul.” I believe the author had dark thoughts because he was on his deathbed. You can see that he thinks dark when he uses phrases like "of the night that covers me" and "black as the abyss from pole to pole." When he wakes up the next morning and he is still alive, he is grateful and therefore has happy thoughts because he is still alive. The second stanza is about the author persevering through his troubles. “In the context of the circumstances, I did not wince or cry out loud.” In this sentence, the author declares that under the sinister influence of circumstances, he survived his troubles. Henley also states that due to the blows of chance, the author's head is bloody but unyielding. This basically means that even though he has suffered many blows in life, he does not give up. I think he's mostly talking about his strength and how he fights to stay alive. When talking about strength, he says things like "I didn't wince or scream out loud" and "My head is bloody but I'm not bent over." When he talks about fighting to stay alive, he says things like "In the grip of circumstance" and "Under the influence of chance." The third stanza mainly talks about death. “Beyond this place of anger and tears.” This sentence is about Earth. The writer describes the earth as a place of harshness, pain and tears. “And yet the threat of the years finds me and will find me without fear.” This statement says that the author is not afraid of death and will never be afraid. I think Henley thought life was hell for him, so he wrote about it. You can see this when he uses phrases like "the horror of the shadow looms, and yet the menace of the years" and "beyond this place of anger and tears." I think the poet was having another bad day because he started writing really dark things again. For example the kingdom of the dead, hardness and tears. The final stanza speaks of the author's strength to move forward. “It doesn’t matter whether the step is righteous or whether the scroll is laden with punishments.” This means he doesn't care how narrow the process is to get where he's going or how many punishments come his way every time he gets where he's going. He will decide where he will go, whether it will be heaven or hell. “I am the master of my destiny, I am the captain of my soul.” I believe that when writing, the author was thinking about the end of his goal because he knows that it is almost his time. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay All of the evidence I have provided supports my thesis of having strength and perseverance in the face of death. The author ends up realizing that he is the master of his..