DETERMINATION

"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 or cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
     My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wroth 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 straight the gate,
     How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate;
     I am the captain of my soul."

by Laura Ingalls Wilder


This poem is in a book I'm reading and when I saw that Laura Ingalls Wilder was the author of the poem I was anxious to read it and was very surprised when I finished.  I've only read her children's books and was quite moved by the depth of what she said.  And then I thought of the men and women of our day and how many people have that kind of determination.  Who will endure what Wilder is describing and not give up to circumstances mental or physical.

This poem made me feel the way I felt when I saw Brave Heart.  I will be pondering this for a while.

xo