Hi - I've just found this site and I have been trying to get information on the poem that starts

Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole
I thank what ever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced or sobbed aloud
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed

Ends

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

Is this Blake? I thought it was but cant find it anywhere. And could I get an analysis of it or a critique - someone said Stanley Gardner had written a lot on Blake but how do I find it?

Thanks for your help

It's called Invictus and isn't Blake but William Ernest Henley.

The poem above, titled Invictus, is by William Ernest Henley. I looked for McGough on Blake and could only find a biography of McGough. Nothing about his criticism of Blake. Go back and ask your instructor for his/her source.

Les

Hi Hazel!

I hope you remember me. I found your question on this site, and just wanted to say hi.
I still live in Sweden, amrried with two girls and finished my theology training last year. I hope ypu are well.