19世紀的英國詩人亨利威廉(Willaim Ernest Henley, 1849-1903),從小體弱多病,患有肺結核,其中一隻腳因重症而截肢。不屈不撓的他,從不向多舛的命運低頭,在與病魔奮力搏鬥的人生中,寫下了無數不朽經典詩作,包括了膾炙人口的詩篇「Invictus」。
“Invictus”在拉丁文中是“unconquerable”「永不言敗、永不倒下」的意思,
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 or 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 is the scroll,
I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul.
(William Ernest Henley, Invictus)