The New Colossus is a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 to raise money for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. It presents the statue not as a symbol of power but as a 'Mother of Exiles' welcoming immigrants, and became the most famous poem associated with America.
The occasion
The statue, a gift from France designed by Auguste Bartholdi, needed a pedestal paid for by Americans. In 1883 an art and literary auction was organised in New York to raise funds, and Lazarus was asked to contribute a poem.
She wrote The New Colossus on 2 November 1883; it was read at the opening of the exhibition and sold with the other works.
The poem
The sonnet contrasts the new statue with the ancient Colossus of Rhodes, the bronze giant of conquest. The American statue is a woman with a torch, standing at the gateway of the harbour.
In its second part, the statue speaks to the old world and asks for the tired, the poor and the homeless, a reflection of Lazarus's work with Jewish refugees.
Afterlife
Forgotten after Lazarus's death, the poem was rediscovered by her friend Georgina Schuyler, who had it engraved on a bronze plaque placed inside the pedestal in 1903.
From the 1930s, as millions of immigrants' descendants saw the statue as a symbol of welcome, the poem's last lines became famous and have been quoted in debates on immigration ever since.
Anecdotes
The Colossus of Rhodes
The title refers to the giant bronze statue of the sun god Helios that stood at the harbour of Rhodes in antiquity, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Set to music
Irving Berlin set the last lines of the poem to music in his musical Miss Liberty (1949), under the title Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor.
Frequently asked questions
When was The New Colossus written?
On 2 November 1883, for an auction to fund the statue's pedestal.
Is the poem on the Statue of Liberty?
A bronze plaque with the poem was placed inside the pedestal in 1903; it is now displayed in the Statue of Liberty Museum.
What does the title mean?
It compares the Statue of Liberty to the ancient Colossus of Rhodes, a 'new colossus' of welcome rather than conquest.