The “New Colossus” Revise and Updated

"The New Colossus" is a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus (1849–87), written in 1883. In 1903, the poem was engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the lower level of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.

Paul Auster wrote that "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"

"New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus
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. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide 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!"

Okay, so I did my own revision of the poem, based on the continual stream of news coming out of the US.

"New Colossus" (revised and updated)
Like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates stands
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exclusion. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide scrutiny; her fierce eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Don’t give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
Keep the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
I will send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed back,
I lift my lamp beside the closed golden door!"

What pains me is the Scriptures are fairly clear on this issue, but the culture and ethos of that culture have shaped the conversation into a political maelstrom. For example:

He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

God is looking for three things:

• Act justly
• Love mercy
• Walk humbly with your God

What happens when the culture emphasizes one over the others? Imbalance. We arrive in the end at something else determining how to interpret and live out these scriptures. In this case, when the emphasis is on Justice at the expense of mercy, you create a place where patriotism and nationalism pre-determine how to interpret scripture.

So, now what?

Technorati Tags: poetry,justice

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