Invictus is the movie opening today relating the story of Nelson Mandela and Francois Pienaar (South African Rugby captain) and the 1995 Rugby World Cup. How Mandela used that event to encourage unity in the country.

The unusual title refers to a poem by an English poet William Ernest Henley that Mandela memorized and often recalled when in prison on Robben Island…..

Invictus

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.

I have a feeling there are many quotes and metaphors in this recounting of a true event that will inspire….. 🙂