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The Need for Safe Harbor

Standing at the doorway to the New World with her “beacon-hand” extended to light the way, the New Colossus guides immigrants from other lands toward safe harbor. Although the Statue of Liberty was not originally conceived as a welcoming symbol of refuge for the world’s exiles, Lazarus transforms this figure into just such a symbol. She does so most powerfully in the final six lines of the poem, where the speaker adopts the voice of the New Colossus to speak on her behalf (lines 9–14):

“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!”

In these lines, the most famous in the poem, the New Colossus explicitly welcomes all people who have suffered deprivation and denigration in their native lands. Despite their “storied pomp,” the “ancient lands” of the Old World have failed to provide a good-enough life for all their people. Effectively exiled from their homes, these castaways will find refuge in the United States of America, which promises the freedom to forge a better future.

The United States as a Beacon of Hope

If the Statue of Liberty stands as a beacon of hope for the exiles of the world, then she does so on behalf of the United States as a whole. Lazarus doesn’t elaborate on this theme in an explicit way, but there are several clues in the poem that strongly imply it. For example, the “sea-washed, sunset gates” mentioned in line 3 refer to particular rivers that come together to form the New York Harbor—that is, the Hudson River and the East River. As the speaker puts it, these rivers frame the New Colossus, creating a kind of gate. But where does this gate lead? To the New World, of course, and specifically to the United States, which in the nineteenth century was the main point of entry for immigrants coming across the Atlantic. The image of an entryway returns in line 14, where the New Colossus references a “golden door.” Gilded by the setting sun, the glittering door is a figurative portal to a life full of new possibility. It therefore symbolizes the hopeful promise of the American Dream.

Openness to Others as a Source of Strength

On a slightly more abstract note, “The New Colossus” engages with the idea that being open to others is a source of strength. In the context of Lazarus’s poem, this strength is explicitly described as being maternal. The New Colossus, as the “Mother of Exiles,” stands with her “beacon-hand” (line 6) stretched out in a symbolic gesture of welcome. What’s key here is that this gesture is unconditional. That is, the gesture signifies what the speaker calls a “world-wide welcome” (line 7) that represents an open invitation to anyone who needs a place to build a new life. Although it’s tempting to focus on the symbolism of hope, freedom, and new life embodied by the New Colossus, it’s important to emphasize that her invitation is a universal one. As such, implicit in her call for “ancient lands” to send their “huddled masses” (lines 9 and 11) is an openness to people from a wide variety of backgrounds. The world’s exiles will inevitably speak different languages and bring their cultural traditions with them. As such, the New Colossus’s blanket invitation to the “homeless” and the “tempest-tost” (line 13) requires a fundamental openness to others.

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