Poems to inspire 2012 athletes

Former poet laureate Sir Andrew Motion has backed a scheme to bring poetry into the 2012 London Olympics. The public are being invited to nominate inspiring poems to be inscribed on a wall at the centre of the athletes' village. A final selection from among the nominations will be announced in February.

Daniel Radcliffe chose Invictus, by William Ernest Henley, which brought succour to Nelson Mandela.

Invictus

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 nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

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.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul

For more information go to winningwordspoetry.com

source: thisislondon.co.uk