Journal Entry 1 Emma Lazarus

 

Emma Lazarus

The New Colossus

 

 Emma Lazarus had a very powerful poem. The new colossus symbolizes a theme of mourning. Emma is mourning for the loss of her father. Her father was compared to a huge statue, a symbol of a fallen God. In reality she wasn’t concerned about the loss of her father, but it was more so the security. To recover the loss of her father, she tends to the statue. Within this the new colossus has come to America’s embrace of immigrants. A clear message of acceptance that greeted those who passed through. When Emma said, “I lift my lamp beside the golden door”. Pg 33. She simply meant a new symbol of openness. Within these lines, the new colossus is informing the world to give her all of the people who are longing freedom regardless of how they are. Tired or poor it makes no difference whatsoever. She has lifted her light to let them all in. Her protection extends both to the exiles who founded the United States, and to the refugees hoping to make America their new home. The moral lesson I received from the poem was that life challenges polishes us and brings the best out of us. This poem relates to the module because it shows how Emma fought for what she believed in, just like the immigrants in the module. So, to reflect on the poem to overall message was to give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The tone of Lazarus is inspirational. It assures that America is a refuge for all. The older more established nations of the world. And the generalized image of a statue and its destruction is read as the metaphor of a woman grieving the death of her father.