Discussion Topic
Analysis of the themes, language, sound, rhythm, structure, and literary techniques in "The New Colossus"
Summary:
"The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus contrasts the welcoming Statue of Liberty with the ancient, intimidating Colossus of Rhodes. Key themes include immigration and freedom. Lazarus employs vivid language, rich imagery, and a sonnet structure to evoke emotion. The poem's rhythm and sound enhance its hopeful tone. Literary techniques such as metaphor and personification emphasize America's role as a refuge for the oppressed.
What literary techniques are used in "The New Colossus"?
"The New Colossus"is what's called a Petrarchan sonnet consisting of fourteen lines with a rhyme scheme of abbaabba in the octet, and cdcdcd in the sestet. In keeping with sonnets of this type, there is a volta, or turn, between octet and sestet. This represents the moment at which there is a slight change in the prevailing thought or argument, leading ultimately to a resolution of the poem's "problem." In the sestet Lazarus contrasts the statue and the hopeful message it proclaims with the monstrous expression of power represented by the Colossus of Rhodes in the first two lines. This new colossus is not like the colossus of old, just as the New World is far removed from the ancient.
Lazarus uses alliteration and assonance to emphasize important lines in the poem. They're particularly useful techniques because they draw attention to themselves, causing us to focus...
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on what's being said. For example:
"sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand . . ."
Here, the 's' sounds show alliteration; the 'a' sounds assonance.
We are left in no doubt as to the idealized portrayal of the Statue of Liberty being given here. Here are some more examples:
"Glows world-wide welcome;"
Alliteration is used here to draw our attention to the bright shining image of Liberty and the welcome it represents to new immigrants.
The poem is written in iambic pentameter, which gives it a slow, stately rhythm, in keeping with its high moral tone. The combination of this poetic meter with a profusion of vowel sounds in lines 11 and 12 conveys a wave-like motion, like the waves that will bring immigrants to America's shores:
"Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore."
References
What are the theme, language, sound, rhythm, and structure of "The New Colossus"?
The Statue of Liberty provides the context for Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus.” Lazarus wrote the sonnet in 1883 to raise money for the statue’s pedestal. Now, there is a plaque of the poem inside the statue.
The context connects to the theme of the poem. The poem touches on what the Statue of Liberty represents. To celebrate America’s 100 years of independence, the French designed a statue for them. The statue symbolizes America’s ostensible commitment to freedom and equality for all. Lazarus addresses these themes when she says the statue provides a “world-wide welcome” and a home for the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
As the above lines indicate, the language is somewhat grand and hyperbolic. Lazarus doesn’t discuss the statue in a mild tone. Her presentation is dramatic from the first line, when she contrasts it with “the brazen giant of Greek fame” (the supposedly less democratic statue the Colossus of Rhodes).
Since each line is ten syllables (although this might require one to pronounce some words in a clipped manner) and the poem has a total of fourteen lines, Lazarus uses the sonnet structure. The rhyme scheme varies, but Lazarus maintains a harmonious sound and rhythm with alliteration. Frequently, she puts similar-sounding words, or words starting with the same letter, together, like when she declares that “at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand” the “mighty woman.”
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