Emma Lazarus

On this Fourth of July we contemplate the meaning of this day in which we commemorate a moment in the history of this country where the hope of freedom for all brought us to a new beginning.

Here’s a poem by Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 – November 19, 1887), American author of poetry, prose, and translations, and an activist for Jewish causes.

She is remembered for writing the sonnet "The New Colossus" in 1883. Its lines are inscribed on a bronze plaque installed in 1903 on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

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-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

--Emma Lazarus