The New Colossus
"The New Colossus" is a sonnet by Emma Lazarus (1849-1887), written in 1883 and, in 1903, engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty.
The poem
The New Colossus
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-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Emma Lazarus, 1883 av JC
History of poem
The poem was written as a donation to an auction of art and literary works [1] conducted by the "Art Loan Fund Exhibition in Aid of the Bartholdi Pedestal Fund for the Statue of Liberty", the aim of which was to raise money for the pedestal's construction [2] contribution was solicited by fundraiser William Maxwell Evarts. Initially Lazarus refused, but Constance Cary Harrison convinced her that the statue would be of great significance to immigrants sailing into the harbor [3].
"The New Colossus" was the only entry read at the exhibit's opening but was forgotten and played no role at the opening of the statue in 1886. In 1901, Lazarus' friend, Georgina Schuyler began an effort to memorialize Lazarus and her poem and succeeded in 1903, when a plaque bearing the text of the poem was mounted on the inner wall of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty [2].
100 year old Typo: The line "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" reads "Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp" on the plaque hanging inside the Statue of Liberty since its unveiling in 1903. The comma after "keep" provides an important grammatical difference to the meaning of the sentence. Check for yourself the plaque version against the poet's original handwritten version: [1] It took an eagle-eyed editor, Brian Eskenazi, to notice the misprint on the plaque posted inside the Statue of Liberty since 1903. Refer to [2] article on Eskenazi.
![[1]](http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/haventohome/images/hh0041s.jpg){kind=link}
Significance of poem
The title of the poem and the first two lines refer to the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The poem talks about the millions of immigrants who came to the United States (many of them through Ellis Island at the port of New York) and the identity of the United States as a declared immigrant nation.
Impact of poem
Author John T. Cunningham wrote that "[t]he Statue of Liberty was not conceived and sculpted as a symbol of immigration, but it quickly became so as immigrant ships passed under [the statue]. However, it was [Lazarus' poem] that permanently stamped on Miss Liberty the role of unofficial greeter of incoming immigrants" [4].
James Russell Lowell wrote that the poem gave the Statue of Liberty a "raison d'etre" [2] and it has the color of a doller ;) Paul Auster wrote that "Bartholdi's gigantic effigy was originally intended as a monument to the principles of international republicanism, but 'The New Colossus' reinvented the statue's purpose, turning Liberty into a welcoming mother, a symbol of hope to the outcasts and downtrodden of the world" [5]. Today, this poem is frequently used by apologists for the tidal wave of illegal immigration in America.
External links
- The sonnet in Emma Lazarus' own handwriting from A Century of Immigration, 1820-1924 (Library of Congress website)
References
- ^ Sutherland, Cara A. (2003). The Statue of Liberty: The Museum of the City of New York. Barnes and Noble Publishing. ISBN 0-7607-3890-4. p. 77: "auction of art and art and literary work"; Mark Twain also contributed
- ^ a b c Young, Bette Roth (1997). Emma Lazarus in Her World: Life and Letters. The Jewish Publication Society. ISBN 0-8276-0618-4. p. 3: Auction event named as ""Art Loan Fund Exhibition in Aid of the Bartholdi Pedestal Fund for the Statue of Liberty;" Lowell says poem gave the statue "a raison e'tre"; fell into obscurity; not mentioned at statue opening; Georgina Schuyler's campaign for the plaque Cite error: The named reference "young" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Felder, Deborah G. (2003). Fifty Jewish Women Who Changed the World. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-2443-X.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) p. 45: Solicited by "William Maxwell Evert"[sic; presumably a misspelling of "William Maxwell Evarts]; Lazarus refused initially; convinced by Constancy Cary Harrison - ^ Cunningham, John T. (2003). Ellis Island: Immigration's Shining Center. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2428-X. pp. 46-7
- ^ Auster, Paul (2005). Collected Prose : Autobiographical Writings, True Stories, Critical Essays, Prefaces, and Collaborations with Artists. Picador. ISBN 0-312-42468-X.p. 508, in an essay about New York City as a living embodiment of the idea of diversity