Invictus

'I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul'.

These words and perhaps the rest of W.E Henley's poem 'Invictus' of 1875 are destined to become the most famous lines of poetry of 2010. They feature largely in the new biopic of Nelson Mandela, directed by Clint Eastwood and focussing on South Africa's victory in the rugby world cup of 1995.

The film is called 'Invictus', meaning 'invincible' or 'undefeated'' The poem was apparently very influential on Mandela while he was in Robben Island prison prior to becoming President of South Africa. The film apparently portrays him giving the written words to the South African captain, Francois Pienaar - although historians say it was words of Theodore Roosevelt which he actually gave. But hey! who cares about facts - just get the message across.

What will the message be? I have not seen the film yet (I believe it opens on Friday) but one suspects, given the title and the prominence the poem seems to have, it will be at least something of a tribute to the indomitable human spirit.

William Ernest Henley (1849-1902) wrote the poem when he was 26, after his leg was amputated because of tuberculosis of the bone. Nasty enough, and one admires anyone coming through that particularly in the mid 19th century.

'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'

reads the first stanza; it continues

'In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed'.

The last stanza :

'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 am not competent to comment on its literary merit but it certainly has rhythm and I have read worse.

What of its message? Some love it. It speaks of the courageous human spirit contending against all odds; of self-reliance; individualism; of taking responsibility for your own life; of self-determination and the iron will that will not yield to self-pity nor give in to what life throws against it. It is very Stoic; it is just like a Clint Eastwood character. It probably does not do Mandela justice.

Others think it is pompous and over-wrought; in the words of one commentator, rather like choosing 'My Way' on Desert Island Discs; a cut above bar-stool bragging. Gordon Brown has said it inspired him; sometimes, perhaps, the 'fell clutch of circumstance' is a bit too strong.

It is also, of course, very secular-humanist and its last two lines have doubtless been quoted in numerous evangelistic sermons as the epitome of the atheistic spirit.

Just taking them in isolation,though (that is, forgetting for the moment the obviously sceptical stance of 'whatever gods may be' in the first verse), how atheist are these last lines? Could a Christian say them with meaning?

They are clearly amoral - they appeal to the will, not the mind or conscience. They are existentialist. They give no moral guidance for action. It is significant that they were the chosen last words of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, before his execution for killing 168 people in 1997.

Obviously we are not the masters of our fate , the captains of our souls. Any God worth believing in is sovereign. But I was talking to a non-Christian friend the other day who came out with something very like fatalism: that he was not responsible for the big decisions of his life as he felt some greater power had guided him to them and therefore would not be guilty (of much at least) on the day of judgement.

Does he not need to hear a little of Henley? Take personal responsibility!

Then again, when you are pressing home the gospel - does not 'Come to me all you who are heavy laden' or 'Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ' require you to take your soul in your hands and be master of your fate? In terms of power you are not; but in terms of responsibility you are.

Or when you pray, are you not urged to pray earnestly - as if your life depended on it?

Are the warnings, exhortations and commands of Scripture not worthy of taking with the conviction that in doing them and obeying them and heeding them, I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul?

Now I know this poem is in itself ludicrously humanistic, a 'superhuman fantasy', as it has been called. But in a Christian - yes, a Calvinistic framework - it says something a supine generation needs to hear - you, Christian, are responsible. What you do matters. You can change things.

Perhaps the nearest biblical echo of what I am trying to say would be in Ecclesiastes. 'Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might...' (Eccles 9:10).

Within the Preacher's basic framework of the fear of God (the spiritual anchor 'Invictus' does not have) and of keeping his commandments (the moral anchor it does not have) there are worse principles for a fruitful life.