"If..." by Rudyard Kipling / "Invictus" by Wiliam Ernest Henley (read by Roy Macready)
8These two poems perfectly embody the bold, confident values of Victorian England. "Invictus" is a short Victorian poem by the English poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903). It was written in 1875 and published in 1888 in his first volume of poems, Book of Verses, in the section Life and Death (Echoes).
Originally, the poem was published with no title. The poem was reprinted in nineteenth-century newspapers under a variety of titles, including "Myself", "Song of a Strong Soul", "My Soul", "Clear Grit", "Master of His Fate", "Captain of My Soul", "Urbs Fortitudinis", and "De Profundis". The established title "Invictus" (Latin for "unconquered") was added by editor Arthur Quiller-Couch when the poem was included in The Oxford Book of English Verse (1900).
In 1885 one of Henley's legs required amputation due to complications arising from tuberculosis. Immediately after the amputation, he was told that his other leg would require a similar procedure. He chose instead to enlist the services of the distinguished English surgeon Joseph Lister, who was able to save Henley's remaining leg after multiple surgical interventions on the foot. While recovering in the infirmary, he was moved to write the verses that became "Invictus". This period of his life, coupled with recollections of an impoverished childhood, were primary inspirations for the poem, and play a major role in its meaning. A memorable evocation of Victorian stoicism—the "stiff upper lip" self-discipline and fortitude in adversity, which popular culture rendered into a British character trait, "Invictus" remains a cultural touchstone. With the message of displaying fortitude in the face of adversity, the poem evokes Victorian stoicism and a "stiff upper lip".
"If—" is a poem by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling, written in 1895 as a tribute to Leander Starr Jameson. It is a literary example of Victorian-era stoicism. The poem, first published in Rewards and Fairies (1910), is written in the form of paternal advice to the poet's son, John.
"If—" first appeared in the "Brother Square Toes" chapter of the book Rewards and Fairies, a collection of Kipling's poetry and short-story fiction, published in 1910. In his posthumously published autobiography, Something of Myself (1937), Kipling said that, in writing the poem, he was inspired by the military actions of Leander Starr Jameson, leader of the failed Jameson Raid against the Transvaal Republic to overthrow the Boer Government of Paul Kruger. The failure of that mercenary coup d’état aggravated the political tensions between Great Britain and the Boers, which led to the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
As an evocation of Victorian-era stoicism—the "stiff upper lip" self-discipline, which popular culture rendered into a British national virtue and character trait, "If—" remains a cultural touchstone. The British cultural-artifact status of the poem is evidenced by the parodies of the poem, and by its popularity among Britons.
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Track List:
"Invictus" (0:00) read by Roy Macready
"If..." (1:31) read by Roy Macready
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