Introduction
Born: July 22, 1849, Manhattan, New York.
Died: November 19, 1887, Manhattan, New York.
Buried: Beth Olam Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.
Born: July 22, 1849, Manhattan, New York.
Died: November 19, 1887, Manhattan, New York.
Buried: Beth Olam Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York.
Emma was the daughter of Moses Lazarus and Esther Nathan. She never married.
A poet, translator, and activist for Jewish causes, she is probably best remembered for her 1883 poem The New Colossus. It contains the lines Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
which are inscribed on a tablet at the foot of the Statue of Liberty in New York City.
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!
Emma Lazarus, 1883