Lazarus, Emma – The New Colossus
Emma Lazarus - The New Colossus
A poem that has been written for the socket of a monument tends to be a bit unwieldy. If it is then one about a "colossus", one may consider not even looking at it. However, with the word "new", the title suggests that there must be something more to it. And indeed, Emma Lazarus manages to come up with a sonnet which consolidates the spirit of a whole young nation.
She succeeds in doing so at the cost of the "Old World" - Europe is the negative counterpart to the USA. The main stylistic device, which is elaborated throughout the whole piece of work, is the antithetical comparison. In the first place, the beautiful Statue of Liberty is opposed to the defective Colossus of Rhodes. Made only of "brazen", this "giant[...] with conquering limbs astride" (ll.1-2) cannot compete with the "mighty woman" (l.4) who stands next to the "golden door" (l.14) and "[commands the] air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame" (ll.7-8) as opposed to the "limbs astride from land to land" (l.3). Apart from the astounding, new fact that the symbol of American democracy is a woman, the poet cleverly makes use of negatively connoted terms when referring to the Greek Wonder of the World: a "giant" arouses fear in humans just like the word "conquering", which hints at the European imperialism. To mention the "limbs" is even sarcastic as it is commonly known that the Colossus of Rhodes fell into pieces not long after he was set up. And even more, the word "astride" evokes the association of prostitution, something which was deeply scorned in the (Puritan) United States and still is today by many. Additionally, the Greek statue is often referred to as a symbol of megalomania, which Lazarus hints at with the words "storied pomp" (l.9).