An Analysis Of Invictus, By William Earnest Henley

One example of the theme is in the second to last paragraph. It states, “My poor Aylmer,” she repeated, with more than human tenderness, “you have aimed loftily; you have done nobly.  Do not repent that with so high and pure a feeling, you

In this free-verse war poem, the idea of 'journey' extends itself to cover both the physical and emotional aspects of the subject matter of the poem. Repetition and word

In this poem he uses symbolism a lot to explain his theme. For example "dark swallowed ships are my deleted thoughts..." The dark ships are his dark thoughts that he finally swallowed. Also the different elements are symbolic to his family.

Alliteration and metaphors are two major elements of this poem. The repetition of consonant sounds and alliteration occurs throughout the poem. All of the lines strongly use the repetition of consonants and alliteration except for lines two and seven. In addition to that, the controlling figure of speech in this poem is a metaphor. It is strongly articulated in the first line, and as the one continues to read, it is amplified and extended throughout the rest of the poem. The metaphor compares mask of Line 1 to the fabricated emotive facades that African-Americans had made use of in order to avert provoking their oppressors.

This internal war starts the second that you set foot in this unknown word as a baby, all the way up to the last step you take to say your last goodbyes to this world. The poem begins with a life of a child in whom people around him tended to call the child “...crybaby or poor or fatty or crazy and made [the child] an alien…”(Sexton), and the child “...drank their acid and concealed it.”(Sexton) illustrating how painful it is, not react and take actions,but counseling is the best method the child seemed fit. Furthermore, courage in a person can also cause a war, in which the author shows the imagery, how the child’s “...courage was a small coal that [the child] kept swallowing.”(Sexton) and encouraging to society to make his own future. As an adult, the person endured many difficulties, such as the of enduring “...a great despair…”(Sexton), but you didn’t do it with a companion but rather “...did it alone.”(Sexton) and endured that suffering within yourself. Being an adult is not only passing a time with your loved ones and remembering the ones that sacrificed their time to make you who you are now, from your teachers to your peers to your parents, but to actually live your life the fullest and make each day worth living.Until the last moment that has been waiting since the beginning in which the death “...opens the back door...” and “...[the adult will] put on [his] carpet slippers and stride out.”(Sexton), exemplifying how all you have done, from engulfing the pain given by the society to living your whole life just to see a tear of happiness from seeing your grandchild, will not be taken with you at the moment when you really need it the

Henley, the author of the poem, doesn’t come direct in the writing, instead the reader has to infer what the poem is about. The lesson taught in the poem is similar to the one taught in the documentary mentioned above. “Invictus,” is about one’s journey of not letting their dark times defeat them. Henley refers to himself in the poem but this doesn’t mean the theme of “Invictus,” only affects him.

The main theme of both the poem and documentary is the ability to thrive even when hit by a difficult trial. Even though Darius Monroe went to jail, he was still able to become a filmmaker because he had hope, he conquered all the obstacles that was in the path of getting his goal. In the poem “Invictus”, William Henley was going through some rough times and he truly was adrift in a dark pit, but he embraced it and had hope that everything was going to be okay. “I am the master of my fate,

The serious tone in “Invictus” is gloomy and dark at the same time Henley remains passionate throughout the poem to allow the readers to not only really feel the despair the author was experiencing but the triumphant feeling of persevering at the face of adversity. William Henley engages the readers with the assistance of poetic devices mentioned above to constantly portray the dark yet resilient tone and most importantly the theme of courage and resilience, making it easily relevant to readers past, present, and future. Anyone hear this song recently? The contemporary song “Fight song” was written this year (2015),Singer-songwriter Rachel Platten stated that the "Fight Song” was inspired by several experiences that hurt her and made her

For me, the themes of the poem’s keeping moving forward and always do your best. The most interesting line’s “There’s standing tough and moving tough (14).” That line’s important because nobody should never give

For example In stanza 2 it says,” I’se been a-climbin’ on, and reachin’ landin’s, and turnin’ corners”. The poem is explaining that a mother is telling her son that she has kept going and persevering through life. She has been getting each goal accomplished one by one and never stopping. This example connects to papa and mama and how they have to keep persevering through their hard times and how they have to fight to keep their land. Also they persevere to keep the payment even when papa is injured and can’t be out on the railroads. The great depression was happening and was a big part of their lives and them persevering through it. Another part of the poem is In the 3 stanza it says, For I’se still goin’, honey, I’se still climbin’. This is meaning that she is still pushing through the hard times and is still alive to this day. Just like Mr. Jamison and how he is still helping the logans, as a white man and is still alive from all the white people. Segregation is taking place during this whole thing, when all the whites and blacks are separated from each other and they don’t get the same treatment. However this does not stop Mr. Jamison from helping the blacks, just because they are not is color and they are not the same, he still living on for what is

Within his poem he describes some of the struggles of war. He states, “Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots But limped on, blood shod. All went lame; all blind; Drunk with fatigue”(709). He describes the overwhelming exhaustion that war takes on the human body. The body continues to fight on and survive. He continues with, “Gas! Gas! Quick, boys!--An ecstasy of fumbling, Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time”(709). This description allows us to realize that even when the body was at complete exhaustion, as described earlier, the men stay vigilant at all times in order to stay alive. At any moment death could be at their doorstep and they must be ready to combat it. Not all men were able to react as quickly as need be in wartime, as described by, “As under a green sea, I saw him drowning. In all my dreams before my helpless sight, He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.”(709). He is unable to do anything for his dying brother, friend and fellow soldier. This is the most important glimpse into what soldiers face in the field of battle that stays with them for the rest of their lives. At points within the war, many were faced with the realization that somebody very close was dying right in front of them and there was nothing they could do to assist them. This poem can serve as the missing link for the reader to, attempt, to imagine what

Throughout the course of time, freedom and independence have been something either granted or needed to be achieved. In the passages of Invictus, The Declaration of Independence, The Crisis-Number 1, and The Myth of Prometheus it is discovered that whoever intends to gain freedom or independence must either work for it, or sacrifice for it. Throughout the lines of the documents and stories, it is easy to tell that achieving freedom is something easier said then done. While most people needed to sacrifice for freedom, the independence was always worth the struggle.

After watching the documentary, Evolution of a Criminal by Darius Monroe, and reciting the poem, Invictus by William E. Henley, I was able to compare them both and found similarities between them. Both talked about dealing with hardships that made them feel hopeless in the beginning and changed their lives for the better once they overcame them. Darius Monroe, after witnessing his mother struggle financially for years, grew desperate in finding a way to help her. Feeling like there wasn’t an alternative, Darius Monroe had committed a serious felony. With the help of his friends, family and those he wronged, he created a film that talked about this part of his life and the things he learned from it. William E. Henley's “Invictus” was about his

People going through a hard time can not let their struggles consume them, but they need to overcome them and get stronger. Poems “Invictus” by

What makes one human? Is it the concept of mortality? Is it the confinement of love? Is it the oppression of grief? What makes one human? If emotion is what makes one human, then poetry makes us human. Poetry is a powerful yet refined way to connect with a world we take for granted. A man once said, “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something…”― Randy Pausch. We’ve all hit rock bottom at least once throughout our lives, when the word ‘impossible’ consumes you and the word ‘possible’ is not your neighbour. Two words ‘Courage and resilience’. “Invictus” by an English poet Willam Ernest Henley and “Fight song” by an American artist Rachel Platten are both inspirational texts with reflections of the unique themes of ‘Courage and resilience ‘and portrays the challenging part of