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Invictus

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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.

These are the lines to the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henly.  This poem is one which I remember often and fondly, because I have a long history with it, and it’s message has wormed it’s way into my writing – half on purpose, half by accident.

Invicuts is the favored poem of my high school creative writing teacher.  To those who were in that class with me, just the name of the poem generally inspires groans, facepalms, and headdesks.  It came up once a year at least.  We memorized it for extra credit.  We wrote reaction papers to it.  We wrote stories based on it.  No one in that class ever… ever forgot Invictus.  

Much later out of high school, and I can still write a good portion of it from memory. (In my mind, I’m pretty sure I have the middle two verses mixed up, so I’m going to cheat and go look)

I’m not sure what reminded me of it today, perhaps it was reading a particularly well done poem by a fellow wordpresser.  But as I thought about it I realized that many characters of the Athele series subscribe to this poem as a whole, Morgan in particular.

I’ve already explained to you the theme, the single word I chose for Morgan when pressed in this post.  Henly wasn’t making any two ways about what the poem was all about, to be sure.  Invictus translates to unconquerable.  Now don’t worry, I’m not going to change my mind about the single word on you. The single word was ‘endure’, but while the two are similar, one can endure while still being conquered.  I am, however, going to take a moment to outline why I consider Invictus to be a relevant poem to Sleight of Spirit.

First, I would like to direct you all to the “about the books” tab on the left.  If you’ve no interest in clicking, here is the important bit: “The main themes of The Athele Series are choice, love, and fate. “

Now I want you to re-read the last stanza of Invictus.  Here it is for you:

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.

Have any more self-affirming words been spoken?  It is the greatest rebuff of fate to say that one is the only one who can change their world and in the end that’s what Morgan is all about: staring fate in the eye and saying “I am not bound to you!”

The demon who possesses her soul often enjoys reminding Morgan that she belongs to it.  That she is its pet, essentially.  Morgan’s adoptive father insists that magic is lost to her and that she will stay his daughter forever.  Morgan, however, will hear none of it, and endures until the time that she sees a chance to change her fate.

That’s why we like her, that’s why I wrote her, and that’s why I hope that you all, the readers of Sleight of Spirit, will love her too.

What about you?  Are there any poems which embody your characters?

Also, we’re starting to look around for cover artists.  It’s so exciting, but kind of scary!  I mean, this is the person that we’re hoping will be with us throughout the entire Athele series, so it’s a little daunting to choose!  If you know of any amazing fantasy artists (or particular sites that specialize in fantasy art) that we should take a look at, let us know.


Tagged: Art, Artists, Blog, Blogging, Morgan, Musings, poem, poetry, Writing

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