The New Colossus： Bronze plaque inside the Statue of Liberty

紐約自由女神像基座上的這首十四行詩！

Bronze plaque inside the Statue of Liberty

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus

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The title of the poem and the first two lines refer to the Colossus of Rhodes, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The poem talks about the millions of immigrants who came to the United States (many of them through Ellis Island at the port of New York).

The "air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame" refers to New York City and Brooklyn, not yet consolidated into one unit in 1898.

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!"

〈新巨人〉


不同於希臘傳說的銅塑巨神，

以征服者的雄姿橫跨兩岸陸地；

在我們落日映波的國門將會屹立

一位高擎火炬的威武女神，

以禁錮的雷電為火，而她的芳名是

流亡者之母。從她燈塔般的手上

燃起對萬邦的歡迎之光；她溫柔的目光

俯瞰著那長橋飛架的雙城海港。

「舊世界，留著你過去的壯麗恢宏！」

她沉默的雙唇喊，「給我你那疲憊、困頓、

渴求自由呼吸的芸芸眾生，

你那擠滿海岸的可憐賤民！

把他們，把那些無家可歸、顛沛流離者送來，

我在這金色的門邊舉燈相迎！」

——艾瑪．拉撒路（作於1883年）