The sonnet presents a powerful and emotional appeal for freedom and democracy, emphasizing the importance of welcoming and accepting immigrants and refugees into the country. It argues that the statue's pedestal should be inscribed with the words "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!"
By Emma Lazarus · First published 1492 · Genre: Poetry, Historical, Social Commentary