The New Colossus

"The New Colossus" is a sonnet written by Emma Lazarus in 1883 in an attempt to raise funds for the construction of a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty.

In 1903, the poem was cast onto a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal's lower level.

Original text
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!"