Sonnet · Inspirational
The New Colossus
by 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-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
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“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus — quilloak.com/poems/the-new-colossus
Quick facts
- Poem
- The New Colossus
- Poet
- Emma Lazarus
- Published
- 1883
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Sonnet
- Themes
- Inspirational, Power & Hubris
Craft notes
How this poem works
Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.
- Shape
- 14 lines · 2 stanzas of 6–8 lines
- Line length
- Mostly 10-syllable lines (pentameter length).
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Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Emma Lazarus1849–1887
- Source record
- WikisourceThe New Colossus by emma-lazarus, Wikisource transcription
- Display decision
- Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
- Publication record
- 1883
- Text fingerprint
- SHA-256 b3a018f6d185d560…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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