Emma Lazarus Quotes

1849 - 1887

US  poet,  a  champion  of  oppressed Jewry.  Her  poems  include Songs  of  a  Semite  (1882)  and  By  theWaters  of  Babylon  (1887). She is  best  known  for  her  sonnet,'The  New  Colossus' which  is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty.

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From 'The New Colossus', inscribed at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, New York harbour,1883.

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More Emma Lazarus Quotes

Still on Israel's head forlorn Every nation heaps its scorn. 496

Emma Lazarus
— 1886 'The World's  Justice'.

Tags: Israel's, head, forlorn, nation, heaps, scorn

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I seem to have always one little window looking but into life.

Emma Lazarus
— From her obituary in Century Magazine

Tags: one, little, window, looking, life

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Poetry must be simple, sensuous, or impassioned.

Emma Lazarus
— From Critic and Poet - An Apologue

Tags: Poetry, simple, sensuous, impassioned

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Sweet empty sky of June without a stain, Faint, gray-blue dewy mists on far-off hills Warm, yellow sunlight flooding mead and plain, That each dark copse and hollow overfills:

Emma Lazarus
— Beginning lines from Epochs I. Youth.

Tags: Sweet, empty, sky, June, without, stain, Faint, dewy, mists

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The children of the prophets of the Lord, Prince, priest, and people, spurned by zealot hate. Hounded from sea to sea, from state to state, The West refused them, and the East abhorred. No anchorage the known world could afford.

Emma Lazarus
— 1492

Tags: children, prophets, Lord, Prince, priest, people, spurned, zealot, hate

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Then Nature shaped a poet's heart a lyre From out whose chords the lightest breeze that blows Drew trembling music.

Emma Lazarus
— Chopin, IV

Tags: Then, Nature, shaped, heart, lyre, chords, lightest, breeze, blows

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No signs of life are here: the very prayers Inscribed around are in a language dead.

Emma Lazarus
— In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport

Tags: signs, life, here, prayers, language, dead

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Alas! we wake: one scene alone remains, The exiles by the streams of Babylon.

Emma Lazarus
— In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport

Tags: we, wake, one, scene, alone, remains, exiles, streams, Babylon

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The funeral and the marriage, now, alas! We know not which is sadder to recall.

Emma Lazarus
— In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport

Tags: funeral, marriage, now, We, know, sadder, recall

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A lady 'twixt two knights' stone effigies, And every day in dusky glory steeps Their sculptured slumber of five centuries.

Emma Lazarus
— St Michael's Chapel

Tags: lady, 'twixt, two, stone, effigies, day, dusky, glory, steeps

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Lo a black line of birds in wavering thread Bore him the greetings of the deathless dead!

Emma Lazarus
— The Cranes of Ibicus

Tags: black, line, birds, wavering, thread, Bore, him, greetings, deathless

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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.

Emma Lazarus
— The New Colossus

Tags: Here, our, seawashed, sunset, gates, stand, mighty, woman, torch

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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
— The New Colossus (1883)

Tags: Give, me, tired, poor, huddled, masses, yearning, breathe, free

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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.

Emma Lazarus
— The New Colossus (1883)

Tags: brazen, giant, Greek, fame, conquering, limbs, astride, land, Here

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Nathless the sacred shrine is holy yet, With its lone floors where reverent feet once trod. Take off your shoes as by the burning bush, Before the mystery of death and God.

Emma Lazarus
— Emma Lazarus, In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport [1]

Tags: sacred, shrine, holy, yet, lone, floors, reverent, feet, once

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No man had ever heard a nightingale, When once a keen-eyed naturalist was stirred To study and define what is a bird.

Emma Lazarus
— Critic and Poet: an Epilogue

Tags: man, heard, nightingale, When, once, keeneyed, naturalist, stirred, study

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