The Statue of Liberty has stood at the entrance to New York harbour since being gifted by the French in 1886. It has the most beautiful poem engraved on it, from which the contrast between America's attitude to immigrants in those not so far off days with the appalling treatment being given to many of them today could not be more stark.
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!"
Emma Lazarus, 1883
A nice photo please, Herry of the lady herself.
ReplyDeleteA nice photo of the lady herself, Herry, please.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth.
Herry,many blessings for this not so satirical post. Blessings to France for having gifted her to our shores, blessed am I to have climbed her highest point (? torch in 1970)'feeling'/knowing she transcended all notions of symbolism.Do we/can we even 'dare' to hope -even should she structurally cease to exist? An abundance of directly related issues not meant for this marvelous journal of yours. One however you posted re: wealth/banks/aristotle/jefferson comes to mind (9/11 does not). Will she again beckon those desirous of democracy and other liberties (yet they're being stripped & violated from her own citizens, hunger, abject poverty, homeless Iraqi vets w/no medical - banks will soon be nationalized. America reviled globally. Only 'we the people' can restore respect. How can we unconditionally embrace peoples of varying origin...when the confederates and Yanks are still @ it (old, tired analogy and only one of thousands). Hope? is that not of the wrong thing...the hope, faith, love..all in the wait?
ReplyDeleteGovernment cannot mandate the mindset of the masses. It can possibly turn utter hopelessness into a 'maybe'. Maybe.
Oh YES Elizabeth - Herry might you have a glorious photo of Lady Liberty to post? Thanks, Leigh