The New Colossus

By Emma Lazarus
About the poet...
Emma Lazarus was born on July 22, 1849 in New York City. She was the fourth of
seven children born to Moses and Esther Nathan Lazarus. The family was descended
from early Jewish settlers in America. Of Portuguese descent, the family was wealthy,
earning its fortune in the sugar refining business. Emma received a classical education
and the family moved in high society, which included owning a mansion in Newport,
Rhode Island.

Lazarus was one of the first successful and highly visible Jewish American authors.
She advocated for Jewish refugees and argued for the creation of a Jewish homeland
before the concept of Zionism was in wide circulation.

Emma Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus,” the poem for which she is best-known
today, in 1883. It was created to sell at an auction to raise money to build the pedestal
on which the Statue of Liberty would stand in New York harbor. (Although the statue
was a gift from the people of France, American contributors paid for the platform.)

On November 19, 1887, when she was 38 years old, Emma Lazarus died in New York,
most likely from Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The New Colossus
BY EMMA LAZARUS

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!”
 Line by Line Analysis
Personification:
Simile: Introduces the Pun: Made from
Suggests that it does
contrasting idea that bronze/ bold or
not stand with a
gives the poem its title shameless
welcoming attitude
LINES 1-2: Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land

❖ the speaker makes a reference to the ancient Colossus of Rhodes

❖ symbolised military victory over Cyprus and was built from the defeated army’s bronze weapons
❖ was believed to have stood with its enormous legs straddling a harbour

Alliteration and Repetition: Four words

begin with the letter ‘l’. giving the poem
a sense of sonic continuity even as it
argues for an old statue that symbolises
from ancient values.
 Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
LINES 3-6: 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

❖ The poemColossus,
describes a statue that, while in some ways is similar to the ancient here connects
in those
others
is fundamentally different Originally, the Statue of ideas with that of the statue,
In contrast to the original Liberty was given to the and America, being the ‘Mother
❖ more thespecifically, these
at linesUnited of Exiles.’toThe
move from describing a Greek statue poem is arguing
describing an
Colossus, new one stands States by the French
American one that the promise of liberty that
the gates - note the imagery as a symbol of the light of
here of waves washing the gates lies at the heart of the statue
freedom simile
❖ in line 4, the surprise of the inverse and liberty
begun in line 1 becomes clear: not
as sunset bathes in a golden and of America mustonly does
be extended
this simile describe what its subject will not be like (rather than
to what
those it isneed
who similar
it - to), but
light.it does so by comparing its subject (the Statue of Liberty) to a seemingly similar object
immigrants.
(the Colossus of Rhodes).
This statue is female, her torch
carries the spark of modern The ancient colossus is masculine,
electricity, and she is a ‘Mother of menacing, a sign of power meant
Exiles’ rather than a symbol of to warn others to stay away.
intimidating military power.
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates Mother of Exiles
LINES 6-8: From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The
air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame
Now you try!

1. Can you identify what glows from her ‘beacon-hand’?

2. What do you think it symbolises?

3. What does the word ‘mild’ mean? Why do you think the
poet uses this’ to describe the statue’s eyes?

4. Which cities is the poet is referring to when she mentions

‘ twin cities’? Can you guess?

5. Recall how the poet mentions how the ancient statue

‘limbs astride from land to land’. Compare it to the
phrase ‘air bridged harbour’. How do you think the poet
is implicitly comparing the Ancient Rhodes harbour to the
new world?

6. Can you identify any literary devices? Why do you think

the poet has used them?
LINES 9-10: “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips

❖ There is a shift that occurs in line 9 of the poem, as the sestet begins. This shift involves the speaker,
who begins to speak through the statue, essentially giving the statue a voice to address the world.

❖ That statue, in its speech, issues a command to the ‘ancient lands,’ which is a reference to the old
countries of Europe

❖ Here, the statue tells Europe she The paradoxical

wants none of itsdescription
lavish, and of one who
perhaps ‘cries’displays
empty, with ‘silent lips’
of power.
reinforces the fact that the statue, though an inanimate
❖ By calling the ‘pomp’ of these lands ‘storied’ the statue implies that its triumphs remain in the past, in
object, untold
legends and chronicles, while America’s nonetheless offers apromise
and limitless powerful liesmessage.
in the future.

❖
It also ties into the statue's identity as a female statue who
The reference to ‘pomp’ seems to be directed at the sorts of wealth and display that were a
characteristic of the European class system, with monarchs and nobility at the top and common people
crushed below. defies stereotypes of femininity. Her silence does not imply
timidity and weakness, but is instead a sign of her
❖ The refusal of ‘pomp’ is the result of a belief in equality and opportunity, in seeing all people, even the
commoners, as worthy.
unwavering confidence and ability to communicate in
unconventional ways.
LINES 10-12: “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

❖ A blended statement of problem and solution Repetition: the word ‘your’ is

❖ Here, the statue directly chastises the ancient world repeated
of Europe fourfor
times in three
failing lines,
to provide
each time referring to Europe and
adequately for those who call it home
read like a kind of accusation or
❖ They are ‘huddled’ together, perhaps leaning againstcondemnation
one anotheroffor thenecessary
failed ideas warmth
of
and protection. Europe.
❖ The statue then addresses this problem by commanding the ancient world to send these
rejected ones to her.
❖ The imperious tone of the phrase ‘give me’ implies that the statue has the authority, ability,
and willingness to provide for these exiles in a way their homeland did not.
❖ the statue is also clearly speaking as a kind of spokeswoman for America, and as such is
arguing two things: for America and to America.
LINE 13: Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me

❖ Whiletheir
the statue continues her command that the ancient lands send the poverty-stricken
word “immigrant”
citizens to America sounds neutral in tone,
❖ The word ‘tempest-tost’ is taken from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, ‘homeless’
whichand ‘tempest-tost’
itself likely
do not. These words identify
borrows the word from the Acts of the Apostles in the Geneva Bible. In Macbeth, one of
the suffering experienced by
the three Weird Sisters curses a sea captain so that his shipexiles
will and immigrants
encounter a tempest,
or storm. (forgotten;rejected)
❖ In the Bible, the apostle Paul’s ship is similarly tossed by rough waves in a storm.
❖ In general, literary sea voyages often show the unpredictable nature of fortune. Here,
the allusion gestures toward the dangerous journey immigrants feel compelled to make
in order to seek a better life.
LINE 14: I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” The use of the word ‘golden’
melds the glowing light of the
torch with the entryway it
❖ The poem’s final line brings the symbolism of the statue’s torch back to the foreground
illumines, but also implies that
❖ The New Colossus has commanded the ancient lands to the send land beyond
their will to
exiles alsoAmerica,
be
and now she makes it clear what she will do for them once golden,
they or full of many
arrive.
possibilities
❖ The statue’s promise remains figurative rather than concrete. Because the promise is
nonspecific, it is also limitless.

What is irony?

Do you think that this line seems to hold an ironic undertone? Why?
 Themes

AMERICAN IMMIGRATION

THE PROMISE OF FREEDOM

PATRIARCHAL VALUES VS. MATERNAL VIRTUES

While the ancient statue served as a warning to potential enemies, the new statue’s name, torch, and
position on the eastern shore of the United States all signal her status as a protector of exiles

Her protection extends both to the exiles who founded the United States, and to refugees hoping to
make America their new home.

When the speaker imagines the statue’s voice, the statue speaks directly to the ‘ancient lands’ of
Europe and claims its forgotten and rejected ones as her own.

Each of these features contributes to the poem’s presentation of the Statue of Liberty as a symbol
of welcome, and to the poem's broader message to embrace foreigners with open arms.

The Statue of Liberty's French sculptor included a torch to symbolize reason and liberty enlightening
the world. In the poem, though, the torch instead glows for the same reason a lighthouse does: to
safely guide travelers home. It is a ‘beacon’ or sign of “world-wide welcome” to the thousands of
immigrants arriving in New York.
 Although the poem does not use
the statue’s formal name, Liberty
Enlightening the World, it is deeply
concerned with the statue’s
understood connection to liberty
and freedom.
It suggests that the expansion of
powerful ancient European
empires—which were founded on
principles of class and military
power—deprived many people of
personal and political liberty, and
then has the statue voice a promise
to restore that fundamental human
right.
Mother of Exiles This title, along
with the torch the statue raises to
offer “world-wide welcome” to
refugees, make this statue, and the
nation on whose shore it stands, a
guardian of all who wish to seek
freedom in a new home
The maternal statue claims these
exiles as her own and promises to
shepherd them through the “golden
door” of opportunity. The implication
is that, on American land, human
rights are respected, and all are
given the resources necessary to
flourish.
patriarchal: relating to or denoting a system of society or government controlled by men.

value: the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of

something

maternal:of, pertaining to, having the qualities of, or befitting a mother; being motherly

virtue: moral excellence; goodness

Let’s hear from you! How does the poem explore the theme of patriarchal values versus
maternal virtues? Examine lines 1-2, lines 4-7 and lines 10-14. Using the explanation and
analysis taught in class, jot down details in a chart.

Maternal virtues Patriarchal values

 The poem stages a contrast between stereotypical
masculine and feminine values
It describes the New Colossus in terms of both
commanding strength and maternal mildness. While
the ancient statue offered a display of military
dominance and a warning to powerful enemies, the
new statue is both mighty and mild in her message of
motherly welcome
Lines 4-7 then describe what the New Colossus
will be like: a mild and mighty mother. Although
the speaker first promises that this new statue will
not be like the Colossus of Rhodes, the next lines
show that she won’t be its polar opposite, either.
In place of the powerful male god, the New
Colossus is “a mighty woman.”
The New Colossus understands her role as guardian
differently. She is a “Mother of Exiles” holding a torch
as a glowing sign of “world-wide welcome.”
It describes the Colossus of Rhodes in terms
of strength in battle—something typically
associated with masculinity—and claims that
the New Colossus will be different
The speaker first describes what the New
Colossus will not be like: the warlike and
hyper-masculine Colossus of Rhodes, a statue
of the Greek Titan sun-god, Helios.
This ancient statue was “brazen” in two ways: it
symbolized arrogance and strength, and it was
built by melting down and re-forging enemies’
bronze weapons.
The reference to the Colossus of Rhodes'
‘conquering limbs’ in line 2 recalls the statue’s
purpose: to celebrate a military victory against
Cyprus
The ancient statue was built partly
to warn off potential invaders
 The Four Types of Allusions
Type Example Meaning

Biblical/Religious Forbidden Fruit Something that is prohibited

Mythological Hercules A physically strong person

Historical Einstein A smart person; a genius

Literary Scrooge A greedy person; miser

Sometimes historical and literary allusions interconnect. For example, In Matilda,

Ms. Trunchbull’s actions are compared to Moses parting the Red Sea.

Can you come up with some examples of allusions?

Identify at least two allusions in the poem.

 Other Literary Devices in the Poem
Alliteration

Simile

Imagery

Irony

Juxtaposition

Repetition

Personification

Pun
The End
 Long Answer Assignment
To what extent does the poem render the Statue as powerful?

Discuss the following in your answer:

● Themes
● Symbolism
● Literary devices/Language

Marking Scheme

Intro/Conc. Content T.E Analysis Acc/Exp. Total

2+2 3 (6 points) 2 (8 pieces) 3 2 14

Introduction:
Format
1. General sentence related to the
topic of quiry
2. Background/current information
which connects the topic to the
thesis statement
3. Thesis Statement: Your POV

Main Body:

F: Factor (Point) Hint: Adjectives

E: Explanation and Evidence
A: Analysis (Language, Literary Devices)
R: Reference (Historical context: What
was going behind the scene at the time?)

Conclusion:
At least 3-4 sentences to summarize
main points, restate thesis, and express
final thoughts.(In this case emotions?)
Do not introduce a new point here.