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326 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1903
22 people are currently reading
385 people want to read
About the author
William Ernest Henley
420 books177 followersWilliam Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor. Though he wrote several books of poetry, Henley is remembered most often for his 1875 poem "Invictus". A fixture in London literary circles, the one-legged Henley was also the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's character Long John Silver (Treasure Island, 1883), while his young daughter Margaret Henley inspired J.M. Barrie's choice of the name Wendy for the heroine of his play Peter Pan (1904).
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 23, 2023
Aug 21, 640pm ~~ Review asap.
Aug 23, 1140am ~~ This poetry collection was originally published in 1897, and the Gutenberg edition that I read is the tenth printing, dated 1907. The book is divided into five sections. I thought the section In Hospital was the most personal and moving. Those poems were written while the author was undergoing treatments for the condition he had suffered from his entire life, tuberculosis of the bone. These poems may seem simple and one dimensional at first glance but for me they show an ability to bring to life the world of the hospital and the poet's efforts to cope with his situation.
The poem that Henley is best known for these days was written in 1875, while still in hospital, but it was not included in this section. At first I assumed it was left out of the collection entirely but I found it in the third section of the book, the section titled Echoes. The poems in this section were not listed by title in the contents, they were listed by their first line. Most had no title, and our 'Invictus' was one of those. This poem was noted as 'in memorium R. T. Hamilton Bruce 1846-1899' so I am assuming the editors of this edition shuffled things around to keep the poem out of its written date timeline. It certainly couldn't have been an in memorium poem 20 years before the death of the person referred to! Another little mystery about this poem here is that I could not find out who this Hamilton person was, other than perhaps an art dealer of Henley's day.
Most of the poems in the Echoes section were rather dark with a lot of lines about wishing to be under the deep waters of the ocean and so on. The author must have had tremendous struggles to keep himself showing a positive feeling about life to his friends, but certainly in most of these poems he is very much the opposite. At first that seemed strange to me, since the poems he wrote in hospital were not so gloomy, and especially when you read 'Invictus', you get a sense of the power of the man's spirit at that time.
But even though I deal with a chronic health condition myself, I do not have the type of pain and suffering Henley did throughout his life, so who am I to judge. Also, he had a little daughter who died quite young, and according to what the Wiki article says, he was never the same after that. So the darkness of these poems truly is understandable, it is just dangerous to be immersed in such thoughts for too long. This is one reason I took so much time to get to the end of the collection. I thought all the poems were moving and well-written, but the somber thoughts became too heavy for me to carry.
Aug 23, 1140am ~~ This poetry collection was originally published in 1897, and the Gutenberg edition that I read is the tenth printing, dated 1907. The book is divided into five sections. I thought the section In Hospital was the most personal and moving. Those poems were written while the author was undergoing treatments for the condition he had suffered from his entire life, tuberculosis of the bone. These poems may seem simple and one dimensional at first glance but for me they show an ability to bring to life the world of the hospital and the poet's efforts to cope with his situation.
The poem that Henley is best known for these days was written in 1875, while still in hospital, but it was not included in this section. At first I assumed it was left out of the collection entirely but I found it in the third section of the book, the section titled Echoes. The poems in this section were not listed by title in the contents, they were listed by their first line. Most had no title, and our 'Invictus' was one of those. This poem was noted as 'in memorium R. T. Hamilton Bruce 1846-1899' so I am assuming the editors of this edition shuffled things around to keep the poem out of its written date timeline. It certainly couldn't have been an in memorium poem 20 years before the death of the person referred to! Another little mystery about this poem here is that I could not find out who this Hamilton person was, other than perhaps an art dealer of Henley's day.
Most of the poems in the Echoes section were rather dark with a lot of lines about wishing to be under the deep waters of the ocean and so on. The author must have had tremendous struggles to keep himself showing a positive feeling about life to his friends, but certainly in most of these poems he is very much the opposite. At first that seemed strange to me, since the poems he wrote in hospital were not so gloomy, and especially when you read 'Invictus', you get a sense of the power of the man's spirit at that time.
But even though I deal with a chronic health condition myself, I do not have the type of pain and suffering Henley did throughout his life, so who am I to judge. Also, he had a little daughter who died quite young, and according to what the Wiki article says, he was never the same after that. So the darkness of these poems truly is understandable, it is just dangerous to be immersed in such thoughts for too long. This is one reason I took so much time to get to the end of the collection. I thought all the poems were moving and well-written, but the somber thoughts became too heavy for me to carry.
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September 10, 2012Invictus is one of my favourite poems, such a beautiful and inspiring piece.
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March 23, 2011"From the age of 12 Henley suffered from tuberculosis of the bone which resulted in the amputation of his left leg below the knee during either 1865 or 1868-69. According to Robert Louis Stevenson's letters, the idea for the character of Long John Silver was inspired by his real-life friend Henley. Stevenson's stepson, Lloyd Osbourne, described Henley as "..a great, glowing, massive-shouldered fellow with a big red beard and a crutch; jovial, astoundingly clever, and with a laugh that rolled like music; he had an unimaginable fire and vitality; he swept one off one's feet". In a letter to Henley after the publication of Treasure Island Stevenson wrote "I will now make a confession. It was the sight of your maimed strength and masterfulness that begot Long John Silver...the idea of the maimed man, ruling and dreaded by the sound, was entirely taken from you"."
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.
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.
March 9, 2019
An interesting period piece of poetry. I really enjoyed watching him evolve in style while reading the poems from differing eras.
For a more in-depth review please see my blog https://aarons-poetry-page.com/2019/0... here I go into far more depth than would be possible on this forum.
Definitely worth reading and there are many poems I will come back to over the years to reread.
For a more in-depth review please see my blog https://aarons-poetry-page.com/2019/0... here I go into far more depth than would be possible on this forum.
Definitely worth reading and there are many poems I will come back to over the years to reread.
November 7, 2021
"Must we only wake to toil, to tire, to weep?"
June 21, 2020
William Ernest Henley is probably best known for his poem "Invictus". However as a popular poet and a central literary figure of his day he wrote several other poems on the same carpe diem theme. The poem below is one of those inspirational verses.
Henley was editor for Kipling, Yeats and others, and his close friendship with Robert Louis Stevenson led to collaboration on a handful of plays. Among his poems one of my favorites is "Between the Dusk of a Summer Night,":
Between the dusk of a summer night
And the dawn of a summer day,
We caught at a mood as it passed in flight,
And we bade it stoop and stay.
And what with the dawn of night began
With the dusk of day was done;
For that is the way of woman and man,
When a hazard has made them one.
Arc upon arc, from shade to shine,
The World went thundering free;
And what was his errand but hers and mine --
The lords of him, I and she?
O, it's die we must, but it's live we can,
And the marvel of earth and sun
Is all for the joy of woman and man
And the longing that makes them one.
William Ernest Henley
Henley was editor for Kipling, Yeats and others, and his close friendship with Robert Louis Stevenson led to collaboration on a handful of plays. Among his poems one of my favorites is "Between the Dusk of a Summer Night,":
Between the dusk of a summer night
And the dawn of a summer day,
We caught at a mood as it passed in flight,
And we bade it stoop and stay.
And what with the dawn of night began
With the dusk of day was done;
For that is the way of woman and man,
When a hazard has made them one.
Arc upon arc, from shade to shine,
The World went thundering free;
And what was his errand but hers and mine --
The lords of him, I and she?
O, it's die we must, but it's live we can,
And the marvel of earth and sun
Is all for the joy of woman and man
And the longing that makes them one.
William Ernest Henley
March 11, 2018
I love having a book of poems at the ready to refer to whenever I want a little bright spot of beauty or calm in my day. This edition was one that I bought in a used bookshop in London and it's leather binding and thin pages make me happy every time I pick it up. The poems inside are an interesting mix - many in the beginning about his experience in a hospital and the various people he met there, while other some of my favorites, including "Invictus." Definitely a classic and something comforting and beautifully written that I will always enjoy coming back to.
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February 22, 2021What a range of emotions! It made me feel in love, sad, hopeful, nostalgic and delighted by the beautiful hours I spent reading it.
March 4, 2024
Invictus and When You Are Old are my favorites <3
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews