... There are two inscriptions on the Statue of Liberty in the United States. One is on the tablet Lady Liberty holds in her left arm, and the other is on a bronze plaque within the pedestal of the statue. ...
Statue of Liberty Quote
According to the National Park Service (NPS), the most common quote associated with the Statue of Liberty is a poem inscribed on a bronze plaque on the pedestal of the statue.
The most famous quote from this plaque is the line:
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
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The granite pedestal upon which the statue stands is 89 feet tall. In 1883, as part of efforts to raise the money to construct the pedestal, Emma Lazarus wrote a poem called "The New Colossus." Lazarus was persuaded by fundraiser William Maxwell Evarts and friend/writer Constance Cary Harrison to donate a poem to an auction of art and literary works to aid in the pedestal fund. In 1903, the sonnet was engraved on a bronze plaque and presented by philanthropist Georgiana Schuyler to be mounted on the interior wall of the pedestal. ...
This is the entire poem "The New Colossus" created 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-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!'"
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The Statue of Liberty holds a torch in her uplifted right hand and a tablet cradled in her left arm. The date of the Declaration of Independence is inscribed on the tablet in Roman numerals -- JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776).
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