Talk:Invictus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Invictus is part of WikiProject Poetry, a WikiProject related to Poetry.
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale.
??? This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale.

I'm surprised there is no reference to:

Out of the night 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. .... 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.

This reply as well.

I clearly remember Colin Powell reading Invictus to the American public on a national network. I remember it because he omitted the second stanza. I can't seem to remember when, though. Was it first Gulf War, post-9/11, or when? I've been looking for another source that references the reading, but I guess it wasn't considered terribly noteworthy at the time. Does anyone else remember this? SWAdair | Talk 11:28, 30 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Shouldn't the poem itself be on wikisource?

  • Especially where poetry is concerned, short items are often included directly in the article. See Jabberwocky for another example. Long poems are best not included in the article, but short ones are fine, IMHO. SWAdair | Talk 03:46, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
  • The poem is already on wikisource. Should one of the redundancies be deleted? I think its better if the original text is on wikisource because that is what that database is for, IMHO. --Zippanova 05:26, 10 May 2005 (UTC)
  • Wiki is not paper. Right now I don't know of any way to keep the text of the poem on wikisource and make it display on this page. Anything that makes the text of the poem not display on this page will mean that the poem cannot be read on this page, and as such is inadequate. -- Smerdis of Tlön


Please don't ditch this page as I've just linked to it. Shouldn't the poem be in verses, as well, for clarity? Cheers!


It is quoted in Casablanca. It is when Rick Blaine and Captain Renault are in Rick's office, I think to get money for some guy who won 20k francs. Rick takes a shot at Renault at he says something like "In Casablanca I am master of my fate, captain of my..." and then someone walks in and cuts him off. Rick says something like, "You were saying."

It was also used in the movie 'There was a crooked man' starring Kirk Douglas & Henry Fonda it's while the new mess for the prisoners is being inaugrated by the lady chief guest.

Contents

[edit] Source or Remove

This is becoming my new trademark stance on talkpages, "Source or Remove", I feel like such a reference-Nazi. Anyways, In the United States, this poem has become popular among paratroopers, many of whom commit it to memory to give them emotional support should they become a prisoner of war., source or remove. Sherurcij (talk) (bounties) 05:13, 28 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] question

Can anyone explain what "pole to pole" is referring to?


I believe it means top to bottom, just as the poles are the "top" and "bottom" of the earth. Bofa

[edit] question???

I hardly read poetry so can any one tell me what does this poem really means??

He is saying that he is in control of himself, and he isn't going to blame anyone else for his misfortunes. AdamBiswanger1R.I.P. Steve Irwin 13:33, 25 September 2006 (UTC)
It could also mean simply that he will not allow himself to be beat.-Ashley Pomeroy (talk) 15:59, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] deleted reference to "master of my fate"

The previous version read "Through this poem, Henley gave the world the familiar phrases "my head is bloody, but unbowed" and 'I am the master of my fate'." I took out the reference to "I am the master of my fate," since it is too bold a claim to say that Henley "gave the world" this phrase. More likely the phrase comes from the first act of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, where Cassius tells Brutus that "Men at sometime, are Masters of their Fates". Henley may be referring to this, but he certainly did not coin the phrase. But in Henley's defense, I wouldn't doubt that Shakespeare cribbed this from a Latin playwright.

[edit] Full text of poem

Wikipedia is not meant for source text; that's what Wikisource is for. I've removed the full text from this article and left an easy to find Wikisource box. :) --Midnightdreary 22:24, 14 July 2007 (UTC)

Well, I'm surprised to see how quickly the full text reappeared. I'm assuming it's because an editor pored over WP:L&P and made a conscious, well thought-out judgment call based on it. --Midnightdreary 03:45, 31 August 2007 (UTC)