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 bludgeoning of chance
My heard 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.
William Ernest
Henley, 1877 |
|
Out of the light
that dazzles me,
Bright as the sun from pole to pole
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ--the Conqueror of my
soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance
I would not wince, nor cry aloud.
Under that rule which men call
chance,
My head, with joy, is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears,
That life with Him--and His the aid
That, spite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and will keep me, unafraid.
I have no fear though strait the
gate:
He cleared from punishment the
scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate!
Christ is the Captain of my soul.
Dorothea Day,
1900 |
