What Does The New Colossus Symbolize

A Light in the dark; The Mother of Exiles

The Statue of Liberty is a 305 foot tall figure and renowned landmark of America that can be seen from far and wide. At the foot of this figure of splendor is a poem that is known as The New Colossus. The poem was written by Emma Lazarus, a poet that made Lady Liberty who she is today. Lazarus was moved by the slurs and pogroms against Jews in Germany. She failed to raise money for this cause earlier, but then when the Statue of Liberty arrived in America, she used it to express her feelings, and transform this prize from France into The Mother of Exiles. In Lazarus’ poem, The New Colossus, she uses symbolism to portray the themes of the promise of acceptance and the hope of a new life in America.

In The New Colossus, she wrote about the statue of liberty as a Mother of Exiles, holding out her hand to those in need. This conveys the promise of acceptance because it shows Lady Liberty as a mother for the lost. The poem also states “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” (Lazarus 9-11). This conveys the promise of acceptance because it says that the other countries can keep their riches, but America wants their poor and those that are not free. The quote “The wretched refuse of your teeming shore” (Lazarus 12) shows the hope of a better life in America because the foreign shores are “wretched refuse” and America is a “sea washed, sunset gate” (Lazarus