The New Colossus
Emma-lazarus
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The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus
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Emma-lazarusAbout
This famous sonnet by Emma Lazarus is engraved on a bronze plaque mounted inside the lower level of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
The poem speaks of the millions of immigrants who came to the United States (many of them through Ellis Island at the port of New York).
John T. Cunningham wro...
The New Colossus Annotated
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!