“The New Colossus” ("O Novo Colosso") por Emma Lazarus

Is any poem more of a public institution than The New Colossus? In 1903, it was first displayed on a plaque inside the base of the gift to the United States, La Liberté éclairant le monde (Liberty enlightening the world), from the people of France. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in 1886. Emma Lazarus' signature sonnet has become one of the most renowned and quoted poems. It has managed this feat despite its author's low profile during her lifetime and despite having nearly lapsed into oblivion before its enshrinement, according to the Poetry Foundation. (Photo from the Poetry Foundation)

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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!"

Não como o gigante de bronze da antiga fama,

Cujos membros subjugam os campos de baixo de si;

Aqui cintilando aos portões do crepúsculo, vê-se

Uma dama robusta com um farol cuja flama

É o relâmpago aprisionado, e ela se chama

Mãe dos Exilados. Da mão que, meiga, se estende

Brilham boas-vindas; o seu olhar compreende

O porto que as nobres cidades gêmeas defendem.

"Segurai, antigas terras, vossa pompa!" diz ela

Com lábios quietos. "Dai-me vossos pobres fatigados,

As multidões que por só respirarem livres zelam,

Resíduos miseráveis dos caminhos fervilhados.

Mandai-os a mim, desabrigados, que a minha vela

Os guiará, calmos, através dos portões dourados."

(Translation by Carl Youngblood)