Editing Invictus (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Portrait of William Ernest Henley.jpg|thumb|upright|[[William Ernest Henley]]]]
When Henley was 16 years old, his left leg required [[amputation]] below the knee owing to complications arising from [[tuberculosis]].<ref name="MG87">{{cite book|last=Goldman|first=Martin|url=https://archive.org/details/listerward0000unse|title=Lister's Ward|publisher=Adam Hilger|year=1987|isbn=0852745621|url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|16}} In the early 1870s, after seeking treatment for problems with his other leg at [[Margate]], he was told that it would require a similar procedure.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Faisal |first=Arafat |date=Oct 2019 |title=Reflection of William Ernest Henley's Own Life Through the Poem Invictus |url=https://ijels.com/upload_document/issue_files/36IJELS-109201940-Reflectionof.pdf |url-status=live |journal=International Journal of English, Literature and Social Science |volume=4 |pages=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240207213549/https://ijels.com/upload_document/issue_files/36IJELS-109201940-Reflectionof.pdf |archive-date=2024-02-07 |via=Google Scholar}}</ref>

He instead chose to travel to [[Edinburgh]] in August 1873 to enlist the services of the distinguished English surgeon [[Joseph Lister, 1st Baron Lister|Joseph Lister]],<ref name="MG87"/>{{rp|17–18}}<ref name="EC04">{{cite journal|last=Cohen|first=Edward|date=April 2004|title=The second series of W. E. Henley's hospital poems |journal=Yale University Library Gazette|volume=78|issue=3/4|page=129|jstor=40859569}}</ref> who was able to save Henley's remaining leg after multiple surgical interventions on the foot.<ref>[http://sites.google.com/site/jreedeshs/home/invictus-analysis "Invictus analysis"]. jreed.eshs {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312115455/https://sites.google.com/site/jreedeshs/home/invictus-analysis |date=2016-03-12 }}</ref> While recovering in the infirmary, he was moved to write the verses that became the poem "Invictus". A memorable evocation of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] stoicism—the "[[stiff upper lip]]" of self-discipline and fortitude in adversity, which popular culture rendered into a British character trait—"Invictus" remains a cultural touchstone.<ref name="Icons">[http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/stiff-upper-lip/biography/spartans-and-stoics-with-stiff-upper-lips Spartans and Stoics – Stiff Upper Lip – Icons of England] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212030541/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/stiff-upper-lip/biography/spartans-and-stoics-with-stiff-upper-lips |date=12 December 2009 }} Retrieved 20 February 2011</ref>