In the poem "Invictus," William Ernest Henly thanks the gods "for [his] unconquerable soul." He continues to say that despite his pain and circumstances, his head is "bloody," but "unbowed". He talks about the night covering him and the darkness looming over him as if death is approaching, yet he says his will to live remains strong. Life will not destroy him because he is determined that he will be the "master of my fate... the captain of my soul."

What the poem doesn't answer is what's causing the problem. Through such lines as "Under the bludgeonings of chance," we can understand that fate has served him in a hard blow, but the poem seems more of a way to lift himself out of his misery than a way to outline his condition.

Further research shows that Henly actually wrote the poem while being treated in hospital for tuberculosis of the bones. He survived the operation but had to have his left leg amputated. The doctors wanted to amputate his right leg as well, but he refused in preference for alternative treatment, and his leg was saved.

His survival hammers home the message that if you believe in yourself enough, you can recover from anything. Despite his many health problems, Henly lived for another thirty years.