The New Colossus
The New Colossus is a sonnet by Emma Lazarus that she wrote in 1883. It was intended to contribute to an art collection designed to raise money for the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in New York . A bronze plaque with the poem has been inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty since 1903 and is now on display in the museum inside the pedestal.
The title and the first two lines of the poem refer to the Colossus of Rhodes , one of the Seven Wonders of the World . The poem deals with the millions of immigrants who came to the United States of America (many of them via Ellis Island in New York Harbor ) and the identity of the United States as a declared immigrant nation.
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-tossed to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door. "
German translation:
Not like the metal giant of Greek fame,
With victorious limbs spread from country to country.
A mighty woman with a torch
is supposed to stand here at our sea-lapped Hesperian gates
, whose flame is
the captured lightning bolt, and her name is the
mother of the exiles.
A worldwide welcome glows from her hand as a beacon , her mild eyes dominate
the airy harbor, which is framed by twin cities.
"Keep, O old country, your legendary splendor," she cries
with silent lips. “Give me your weary, your poor,
your enslaved masses who long to breathe freely,
the miserable rubbish of your crowded coasts;
Send them to me, the homeless, driven by the storm,
I hold up my light at the golden gate! "
German transmission:
The new colossus
Unlike the statue from ancient times,
with legs apart and
consecrated to victory,
a woman is said to adorn our harbor
who only
sends a sign with her torch flame , and she is called the
“mother of migrants”.
Whoever is looking for a home is welcome, she says, with a
mild view of the port on two cities' beaches.
"Keep, old coasts, your bill,"
she cries silently. "Give me only your poor,
uprooted, longing to be free,
the souls that fled your shores.
I want to have mercy on the weak.
Let my light shine at the golden gate! ”
- Bernd Matzner
