Celebrating the Unconquered Nelson Mandela by Amma Prempeh

Last week (18th July, 2018) marked the centenary anniversary celebration of the legend, Nelson Mandela.

I've been searching -without success - for the right words to describe this great man. 

My own words fail me. So instead, I'll share the poem Invictus (Latin for unconquered) in his memory.

I first heard about this poem in the movie Invictus which was based on the life of Nelson Mandela. I instantly fell in love with the poem. It's deep and powerful.

I read it to myself when I'm going through tough times. I know that as a Christian my help comes from God, but this poem also reminds me of my God-given inner strength. 

The poem was written by William Ernest Henley at a time when he was going through great suffering. One of his legs has been amputated as a result of Tuberculosis. He was told that the other leg also had to be amputated but he refused. Instead, he consulted an English surgeon who saved his leg through a series of surgeries. It was while he was recovering from surgery that he wrote this poem. Indeed, his leg was not conquered by amputation.

Nelson Mandela drew great strength from the message of self-mastery in the poem Invictus during the period of his imprisonment at Robben Island prison. 

Photo credit: https://karsh.org/photographs/nelson-mandela/

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INVICTUS

by William Ernest Henley

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.