My Interpretation

William Ernest Henley

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.

I discovered this little poem while researching on unconscious motives.
I find the idea fascinating.
To be the master of ones own fate and the captain of ones own soul is quite an idealistic statement to make. Everyone's thoughts and actions are ultimately dictated by another or more commonly, by society. One may be under the high flung misconception that he or she 'thinks for him/herself' but at the end of the day all of us have been brainwashed to conform with society. It may be by just simply abiding by the law or wearing the 'fashionable' clothes or by buying the latest Ipod release. At the end of the day it is society as a whole and as a collective that dictates one actions.
All this may be all right for those who do not enjoy making their own decisions or those who don't really wish to stand out but for the handful of us who do, even YOU at the end of the day have not a SINGLE original thought or idea. If you do, it has in someway been influenced by an external force.
I'm sorry, you were born into the wrong world. You're free to escape to your own.