Funeral reading
Invictus
William Ernest Henley
“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley is a poem read at a funeral or memorial service. It takes about 55 seconds read aloud, usually by a guest reader. It is in the public domain, so the full text is printed on this page and goes straight into a ceremony script.
The full text
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. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds and shall find me unafraid. 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.
Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.
What it is about
Written from a hospital bed. For someone who did not go quietly.
Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: master of my fate · unbowed · a long illness fought hard · a stubborn person · no religious framing · disability.
Questions about reading it aloud
How long does “Invictus” take to read aloud?
“Invictus” takes about 55 seconds read aloud at a ceremony pace, which is slower than conversation — roughly 130 words a minute. That is the figure the run-sheet uses when it works out the timing for the whole service.
Who usually reads “Invictus”?
Usually a guest reader rather than the officiant. “Invictus” runs about 55 seconds, which is a manageable amount to hand to a friend or family member. Give them a printed copy of their own, in a size they can read without their glasses, and tell them where to stand and how you will introduce them.
Can “Invictus” be printed in a ceremony script?
Yes. It is in the public domain, so the full text is on this page and can be printed in a script or an order of service.
Where this text was checked
Checked word for word against a full-text edition that is itself the authority — a Project Gutenberg or Wikisource transcription, a publisher’s own edition, or the issuing body’s page.
Checked
A reading is two minutes of the hour.
The rest is the welcome, the life, the remembrances, the committal — and knowing what comes next. Answer some questions about them and get the whole service, written out, with this reading in its place.
Other readings that suit the same service
- Remember55 secondsChristina Rossetti
- Requiem25 secondsRobert Louis Stevenson
- Crossing the Bar55 secondsAlfred, Lord Tennyson
- Because I could not stop for Deatha minute and a halfEmily Dickinson
- Death Be Not Proud (Holy Sonnet X)55 secondsJohn Donne
- Dirge Without Musica minute and a halfEdna St. Vincent Millay