The aeroplane and the radio
have brought us closer together
The very nature of these inventions
cries out for the goodness in men -
cries out for universal brotherhood -
for the unity of us all
Even now my voice
is reaching millions throughout The World -
millions of despairing men,
women, and little children -
victims of a system that
makes men torture
and imprison innocent people.
To those who can Hear Me,
I Say -
“Do Not Despair.”
The Misery that is now upon us
is but the passing of Greed -
the bitterness of men
who fear the way of human progress
The hate of men will pass,
and dictators die,
and the power they took from The People
will return to The People
And so long as men die,
Liberty will never perish
Emma Lazarus's poem specifically made the statue part of the immigrant story. She was an American Jewish poet who had initially refused the offer, but after working with refugees from European pogroms, came to understand what America meant to people who were outcasts of society:
“Bartholdi's gigantic effigy was originally intended as a monument to the principles of international republicanism, but The New Colossus reinvented the statue's purpose, turning Liberty into a welcoming mother, a symbol of hope to the outcasts and downtrodden of the world.”
Paul Auster
