 The New Colossus is a sonnet that American poet Emma Lazarus wrote in 1883 to raise money for the construction of the pedestal for the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. In 1903, the poem was cast onto the bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal's lower level. Here is the famous and important poem. Not like the ancient giant of Greek fame whose conquering limbs astride from land to land, here at our seawashed sunset gate shall stand a mighty woman with a torch whose flame is the imprisoned lightning and whose name, mother of exiles. From her beak and hand glows worldwide 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-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door. Let me repeat that part. 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-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.