The New Colossus

By forming a contrast between the Colossus of Rhodes from antiquity and the “New Colossus” of the Statue of Liberty, the poem employs the theme of ancient versus modern. The “brazen giant of Greek fame” (Line 1) with “conquering limbs” (Line 2) represents that age-old perspective that sought power and disdained the weak. For centuries after the heights of Greek and Roman dominance, those civilizations were revered and celebrated by many. The art, architecture, and literature produced during those periods were labeled as “classical” and served as models and inspiration for succeeding generations. Indeed, many would consider the Statue of Liberty to follow in that tradition, calling it a Neoclassical work for taking a Roman goddess, Libertas, as its subject.

However, the poem’s title asserts there is a “New Colossus” in town. It too is “mighty” (Line 4) and actually does the classical model one better by bearing a torch “whose flame / Is the imprisoned lightning” (Lines 4-5)—presumably a reference to electricity, which was a new resource of the time. Rather than expressing admiration for or even acknowledging a debt to antiquity, the poem scorns the older civilizations in the imagined speech of the statue, saying, “‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’” (Line 9).