37
America daily. She was so im-
pressed by the dignity of these
people, despite the horrid condi-
tions they endured, that she de-
voted herself to aiding their
plight.
When she was called upon to
write a poem to raise money for
the Statute of Liberty Pedestal
Fund, she at first declined, but
after reconsideration, and re-
membering her trip to Ward Is-
land, she wrote The New Colos-
sus.
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 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!"
• Coats
* Jackets
• Suits
• Blouses
• Sweaters
But Lazarus was much more
than just the writer of this poem.
She was born into a wealthy
Jewish family in 1849, and one of
seven children. She was precoci-
ous and preferred being by herself
to mingling with youngsters her
own age. •
Her first volume of poetry was
published when she was only 17
and praised by many of the prom-
inent poets of the day, including
Ralph Waldo Emerson. She con-
tinued to lead a rather solitary
existence and outside of her fam-
ily, her writing was closest to her.
She wrote of things that evoked
feelings. But never did her writ-
ing depict frivolity, ,rather
tragedy and sorrow. Somehow in
her growing years, she missed out
on merrymaking.
She gained success, and com-
pleted much poetry, a five-act
play, a novel and numerous trans-
lations. The universal protest
agdinst religious persecution and
political bondage of The New Col-
ossus brought acclaim from
everyone and its sale the amazing
sum of $1,500! This was an ex-
tremely large donation consider-
ing that most of the money do-
nated for the pedestal came in
amounts of less than $1.
In 1886, with the money raised,
the pedestal was completed and
the poem was forgotten. In 1887,
only one year after the Statue of
Liberty was completed, with her
short 38-year span of life over,
Lazarus died of cancer.
In 1903, 15 years after her
death, an artist in New York City,
Georgiana Schuyler, discovered
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