The New Colossus

“Sic Semper Liberatoribus” by Emma Lazarus (1881)

“Sic Semper Liberatoribus” offers a scene from one of the pogroms that swept the Russian Empire in 1881 in the wake of the assassination of Alexander II. It is useful to read alongside “The New Colossus,” as it demonstrates the sort of people Lazarus thinks to be the exiles that would be welcomed by the Statue of Liberty.

“1492” by Emma Lazarus (1889)

While 1492 is known by most people as the year of the voyage of exploration by Christopher Columbus, this poem reminds us it is also the year Spain expelled its Jewish population from its borders. The poem ends with the hope of the New World as a place where exiled Jews could find a home. Like “The New Colossus,” it is also a Petrarchan sonnet with a variant rhyme scheme in the sestet.

“In Exile” by Emma Lazarus (1889)

“In Exile” depicts a group of Jews, having come to the United States, living comfortably and practicing their religion and culture without persecution. It puts the better life envisioned for those exiles welcomed by the statue in “The New Colossus” in more definite terms.