William Ernest Henley's use of vivid language in his poem, "Invictus", creates imagery which in turn aids in the poem's powerful and courageous tone. Henley brings to the reader a poem in which victory is easily perceived due to the images that he creates by using specific language.
             The specific language which Henley uses in his poem "Invictus" is so strong and deep that it is almost as if it took the reader to a new world - one in which feelings of pride and dominance emerge. It is as if the reader were transferred to a coliseum in which he was the gladiator impossible to defeat. Certain language in this poem makes it extremely well-built; especially when Henley says, "I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul" (lines 3-4). Simply by choosing the word "gods" in these lines, the author implies that he possesses some kind of supernatural strength that the gods have given him. This supernatural phenomenon, his unconquerable soul, is something which stays in the reader's mind throughout the whole poem. This helps because as Henley uses other language, the unconquerable soul keeps ringing in the reader's head. When Henley ends the third and fourth stanzas and he writes, "the menace of the years finds, and shall find me, unafraid.....I am the captain of my soul" (lines 12,16), he chooses these words for a reason. He wants to keep the reader thinking positive, thinking about something grand and fearless. With this language that he uses throughout the poem, William Ernest Henley is able to keep the reader focused on the ideas that he wants the poem to get across.
             The choice of Henley's language helps not only create, but maintain certain imagery – one that is abundant throughout the same poem. As the poem begins, the reader is introduced to a dark environment, a night which is "Black as the Pit from Pole to Pole" (line 2).
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