Emma Lazarus (1849–87) was an American poet and passionate spokesperson for immigrant rights. She is best known for penning “The New Colossus,” the 1883 sonnet that appears on a bronze plaque inside the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal and implores in the expression of the lady of the harbor, “Give me your tired, your poor / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ….” Those famous words characterized not only the world-famous monument on the New York harbor but also America’s immigration policy.
Lazarus’s wealthy Sephardic Jewish family paid to have her first collection of poems published when she was merely 17. Her initial work made an impact on the American essayist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, and they exchanged letters for many years.
Lazarus’s literary output includes a novel, essays, original poems, and translations. In response to the brutal anti-Semitic attacks in Russia and Germany, Lazarus’s work took on a new Zionist focus. She organized relief efforts for immigrant Jewish families fleeing the pogroms.
Lazarus wrote “The New Colossus” as an effort to raise funds for the building of the 89-ft pedestal for the Statue of Liberty, which was “a gift of friendship from the people of France” to commemorate American independence.
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Emma Lazarus
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
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp! cries sheWith 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
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Sheryl Sandberg American Executive, Author
Susan Sontag American Writer, Philosopher
Erica Jong American Novelist, Poet
Emma Goldman American Anarchist
Betty Friedan American Feminist, Author
Naomi Wolf American Feminist Writer
Judy Blume American Author
Gertrude Stein American Writer
Robin Morgan American Activist
Cynthia Ozick American Novelist, Essayist