Greetings, all: Today’s sonnet was written by Emma Lazarus, an American author and poet who lived from 1849 to 1887. It’s a famous one, for sure, as a few of its lines are inscribed on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty, and they have been cited frequently by individuals fighting for the rights of others who have been suppressed or marginalized.

Without further ado, “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus.

THE NEW COLOSSUS by Emma Lazarus

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!”