Sweet land of liberty

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!

Emma Lazarus, New Colossus

Emma Lazarus wrote this sonnet for a fundraiser auction to raise money for the pedestal upon which the Statue of Liberty now sits. At the time, the poem barely recieved attention and was forgotten. It wasn’t until after Lazurus’ death in the early 1900s that one of her friends began a campaign to memorialise Lazarus and her New Colossus sonnet. And she succeeded with a plaque with the poem being mounted inside the pedestal of the statute.

Lady Liberty was of course a gift from France to the United States, as a monument to American freedom and independence. But it was really after this campaign and the poem’s inscription that the Statue of Liberty stated to become truly associated as a symbol of hope, of new beginnings and opportunity for millions of immigrants that passed her as they sailed into Manhattan harbour.

And you can see why. As you sail underneath her, Lady Liberty is not imposing. She is magnificent, yes, but small in stature, non-threatening and welcoming. For those who made a treacherous journey over seas, escaping poverty, persecution and hardship, she was their first sight of America - of their new beginning. You can’t help but be moved and look in awe as you take the same route the people that built America took all those years ago. But in today's current climate, it's slightly conflicting. Sailing into Manhattan Harbour now, you can’t help but wonder and reflect on what’s happening in our world today and how some ideals now seem so far away from the compassion and love of our neighbours that Lazarus once spoke of . Nevertheless, Lady Liberty remains a beautiful reminder of the foundations that built the America we know today, and hopefully she will forever shine a light for these ideals.