In honor of William Ernest Henley’s poem Invictus, which started me down this road with the line “My head is bloody, but unbowed” and its perfect complement in the Waite-Smith Tarot’s 9 of Wands, I decided to render the entire poem in tarot cards. Although the text is structured in four-line stanzas, the three-card triptych made for a more compelling visual narrative. Once again, the Thoth Tarot’s vivid imagery and evocative titles fit the mood like a glove.

Out of the night that covers me,

The Moon

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

7 of Disks (“Failure”)

I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

The Star

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.

10 of Wands (“Oppression”)

Under the bludgeonings of chance

Wheel of Fortune

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

9 of Wands (“Strength”)

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

8 of Cups (“Indolence”)

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

Death

And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

7 of Wands (“Valour”)

It matters not how strait the gate,

7 of Swords

How charged with punishments the scroll,

The Priestess

I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

The Chariot