| I understand why you might be uncomfortable with the Dorothy Day poem, and Invictus is, in fact, a better poem, technically. However, it is also bombastic and somewhat absurd. No one is the captain of his fate, nor even the master of his soul. Destiny is too dependent on events over which we have no control, and even our souls are partially forged by circumstance. I am a certain person in part because my parents were divorced, or I was the eldest, or I was raised Jewish, all elements over which I had no control. Similarly, throughout life one is partially shaped by events and persons stimulating feelings and responses over which one has imperfect control. What is true is that one plays a significant role in determining how to meet one's fate, and that one makes an array of choices in the course of life which help to shape the material with which one works. One has the capacity to transcend circumstance, but not without qualification........ |
