The New Colossus
Emma Lazarus ( 1883 )
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 !”
FOR DISCUSSION :
1 . Emma Lazarus ’ poem opens with a reference to the Colossus of Rhodes , which reputedly stood across the harbor entrance at the island of Rhodes , and was a statue of the Sun god Helios , a symbol of freedom . Why is the new colossus called “ Mother of Exiles ” and why does the poem open by saying the statue is “ Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame ”?
2 . Why are liberty and freedom considered core American values ?
I ’ m one of the millions of immigrant children , children of loneliness , wandering between worlds that are at once too old and too new to live in .
ANZIA YEZIERSKA
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