361 – “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

Quote Number:  925

Source: The Statue of Liberty, for more specific details see the Wikipedia page here

Source Notes: Note that the twin cities referenced at the end of the first stanza are New York City and Brooklyn, which was not incorporated as part of NYC until 1898, 15 years after the poem was written.

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