Emma Lazarus grew up in comfortable
circumstances in a loving family in New York City; she loved to read and write and study languages and literature. As an older adult exploring her German
Jewish heritage, she was deeply moved by the anti-Semitic pogroms in Russia in the
1880s. She began to write articles about the immigrant experience, and in a very
immediate way she advocated for impoverished Jewish refugees coming to America. Lazarus was asked to write a poem in honor of France’s gift of a large statue for New
York Harbor signifying both nations’ commitment to the pursuit of liberty. She
thought long and hard about the meaning of the statue to those viewing it,
particularly newly arriving immigrants – and what the statue would want to say
if she were a real person. Her welcoming poem helped raise money for the
pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and was read at its dedication in 1883. Though
Lazarus did not live to see the iconic statue installed in 1886, her poem
remains on a plaque at the Statue of Liberty and is, along with the statue
itself, a moving symbol of America’s commitment to liberty for all. Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of
Liberty, written in gently poetic text by Linda Glaser with detailed, light-filled
paintings by Claire A. Nivola, is an affecting picture book introduction to
Lazarus and her famous poem “The New Colossus.” Ages 4-9.
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!"
