Invictus Revised

William Ernest Henley authored the short poem “Invictus.” The last four lines are the only ones known these days.

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 first heard the lines on the old television show “Room 222.” I only watched the show a few times, and limited exposure perhaps has helped me remember what I did watch of it. During the episode that contained the poem, Mr. Kaufman, the school principal, hears complaints about the English teacher, Miss Brown, so he goes by the classroom to investigate.

She is an older teacher, one he had studied under when he was in school. When she sees him enter the room late, her mind goes back twenty years. She thinks that he is still her student. She berates him for being late again, and orders him to stand and recite Invictus.

It was an episode about the tragedy of dementia. It was also an episode about the error of Invictus. Miss Brown was not the master of her fate. She was not the captain of her soul. None of us is (Gal 2:16; Rom 14:7ff).

So I offer you my own revised version of the closing of the poem.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
Christ is the Master of my fate,
The Captain of my soul.