Henley's Invictus

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Importance of Invictus

William Ernest Henley is an author, poet, editor, and critic. One of his poems, Invictus, is a very detailed poem. At the age of twelve, Henley had been diagnosed with tuberculosis of the leg. It was then amputated, but later on it had spread to his other leg but he wouldn’t let the doctors take his other leg. Because of this decision he had to stay in the hospital for almost two years. During his traumatic stay, he began to write poetry. This is when he had written the poem Invictus. The most important lesson from this story is about his failure to be overcome or prevailed. The Latin word invictus means “unconquerable.” In the first stanza Henley says, “Out of the night that covers me/Black as the Pit from

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