A type of poetic exchange sometimes occurred between Mormon poets and their non-LDS contemporaries. Several works are responses or rebuttals to specific catalyst poems doctrinally problematic for Mormons, such as William Ernest Henley’s“Invictus.”Building on the poetic tradition established earlier in the Millennial Star,in which published “invitational” poems “received” a published poem in response,Church leader and writer Orson F. Whitney chose poetry as the medium through which he countered what he felt was a pervasive and erroneous notion. Click on each title below to read in full or Humanist vs Christian for Dorothea Day comparison
“Invictus” |
“The Soul’s Captain: An Answer to‘Invictus’” |
William Ernest Henley (1849-1903) |
Orson F. Whitney (1855-1931) |
Published 1875 |
Published 1926 |
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. |
Art thou in truth? Then what of Him Who bought thee with His blood? Who plunged into devouring seas And snatched thee from the flood, |
In the fell clutch of circumstance |
Who bore for all our fallen race |
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. |
Of what avail thy vaunted strength Apart from His vast might? |
It matters not how strait the gate, |
Men are as bubbles on the wave, As leaves upon the tree, |
Free will is thine—free agency, To wield for right or wrong; |
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Bend to the dust that “head unbowed,” Small part of life’s great whole, |
Whereas the persona in Henley’s poem thanks “whatever gods may be,”Whitney solves the identity crisis: it is the “God who died that man might live.”Just as Henley proudly concludes, “I am the master of my fate: / I am the captain of my soul,”Whitney immediately contradicts him with the question, “Art thou in truth?”Furthermore, the “master”/ “captain” terms of entitlement and rank are demoted to “bubbles” and “leaves”—mere by-products and off-shoots—connoting dependency, temporarily, and superficiality. Among Whitney’s purposes is to put Henley in his place.
Initially, Whitney’s verse might seem callous given the circumstances under which Henley wrote“Invictus”:he had just suffered bone tuberculosis, a risky amputation, and an extended hospitalization. But Whitney is not so much negating Henley’s defiance as he is positing the need for humility. (In fact, Whitney praised“Invictus”on several occasions.) He elaborates:
We all admire courage, fortitude, and the power to patiently endure; we recognize such traits as essential to success, both in spiritual and in temporal pursuits. But . . . in this wonderfully virile and powerful poem, there is no recognition of any need for divine help.“I am the captain of my soul,” is true only to a very limited extent. Man is a free agent, with a will of his own, with the power to achieve, to succeed or fail. That much is true. But there is a Greater Captain of our souls, to whom we all owe allegiance. Self- reliance is a good thing, if not carried too far. But self-assurance, self-sufficiency, self- conceit, is a bad thing. There is no such thing as absolute independence. We depend upon one another, and all are dependent upon God. (pars. 23-24, 26)

Jesus Savior, Pilot Me (hymn 104) by Edward Hopper and the story behind it are fitting.
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Jesus, Savior, pilot meOver life’s tempestuous sea;Unknown waves before me roll,Hiding rock and treach’rous shoal.Chart and compass came from thee;Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
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As a mother stills her child,Thou canst hush the ocean wild;Boist’rous waves obey thy willWhen thou say’st to them, “Be still!”Wondrous Sov’reign of the sea,Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
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When at last I near the shore,And the fearful breakers roar‘Twixt me and the peaceful rest,Then, while leaning on thy breast,May I hear thee say to me,“Fear not; I will pilot thee.”
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Text: Edward Hopper, 1818-1888Music: John Edgar Gould, 1822-1875