The New York Times ran a piece today on Al Sharpton. When asked about his sources of inspiration, here's how he responded:
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INSPIRATION I recite two poems, always, every day. When I was doing 90 days in jail in 2001, former Mayor Maynard Jackson visited me, and he told me he read Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s “Will” every day — that’s how he became the first black mayor of Atlanta. It’s very inspiring. It talks about how, no matter what, if you have strong will, you can make it. And I recite “Invictus,” which is similar in theme: I’m the captain of my fate, the master of my destiny.
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Wilcox, pictured at right, also furnished the inspiration for John Ashbery's poem "Variations, Calypso and Fugue on a Theme of Ella Wheeler Wilcox" in his book The Double Dream of Spring,
"Invictus" is also the poem that Timothy McVeigh requested on the day of his execution, June 11, 2001; -- DL:
