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dcnovice -> RE: How many Republican scandals can you name? (4/1/2007 9:17:54 PM)
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quote:
Can you tell Me what the inscription on the Statue of Liberty says and how that came to be?
The inscription on the statue itself (i.e., on the tablet that Liberty is holding) says "JULY IV MDCCLXXVI," or "July 4, 1776."
Your "huddled masses" quote comes from a poem, "The New Colossus," written by Emma Lazarus and auctioned off to help raise funds for building the pedestal (which was America's contribution to Liberty Island). The poem was later put on a plaque and affixed to the pedestal, but it was not part of the original design, nor was the statue initially conceived as offering a welcome to immigrants (though I'm glad it did). The statue's real name is "Liberty Enlightening the World."
Here is the complete poem:
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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