Jumping from millennium to millennium, country to country, Emma Lazarus, an American writer and activist of the 19th century, is remembered for her inspiring sonnet, “The New Colossus.” This sonnet tells an inspiring story of the Statue of Liberty and connects it to the story of the ancient Greek Colossus of Rhodes from 292 BC.
As one of the traditional seven wonders of the world, the Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek sun god, Helios. It was built to celebrate victory over Antigonus I Monophthalmus from Macedonia (Southeastern Europe), who had laid siege to the island. Helios gained massive respect from this victory in Greece. Hence, his statue came to symbolize military triumph and Independence, that was until the monument was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC.
Though the Colossus of Rhodes does not still stand today, the poem jumps many years ahead into the future to discuss what the Statue of Liberty symbolizes in comparison. The poem states how the statue resembles “A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame / is the imprisoned lightning.” The statue looks like a powerful motherly figure, lit by the modern wonders of electricity. She stands on the New York grounds in pride, welcoming immigrants that pass the border to America and uses her torch as a guiding light.
The Statue of Liberty is personified in this text, given a line of dialogue, where she essentially tells the struggling citizens of Europe starved of freedom that they are welcome in the States. Many individuals feel forgotten in their overly-populated countries of origin with limited resource supply. Her torch poses as an important form of symbolism in this poem as it is meant to serve as a bright and warm entrance to America with all the freedom and opportunities it has to offer.
I found the complex and meaningful take on two seemingly unrelated statues brought together in a single story from Lazarus beyond inspiring. Especially since Lazarus went thousands of years back to a specific male monument to be compared side by side to a more modern, female monument shows how times have changed, with women being more represented as figures in power. This poem also sends the message that welcoming foreigners with a more positive intention rather than trying to exclude new immigrants is so much more powerful and beneficial for a nation.
Rather than putting countless amounts of energy into rising to the top and remaining in power, trying to protect a select group of people, diversity and people of all different colors, genders, and beliefs should be valued. If anything, that is what can truly make a society powerful and stand out when contrasted side by side with the other hundreds of nations in existence. This is why the United States is deemed the world’s most powerful country. When people finally began to open their minds to a place of freedom, they began to endure success from the U.S.’s large economy, military power, and availability of foreign resources that came from making amends with other nations. “The New Colossus,” by Emma Lazarus is a worldly, mind-opening piece that displays the evolution of society. The link that Lazarus creates from Greek Mythology to American History is incredible, and stimulating for the mind.
