Perspectives

Literary perspective

The poem “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus is written between the Romantic period and the Realist period in American literature. However, Lazarus tends to focus on Realist and even Symbolist features in the poem rather than on Romantic ones. For example, Romanticism tends to idealize the past, which the Ne…

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Historical perspective

The poem was written in 1883 to raise money for the construction of a pedesta…

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Textual perspective

The poem “The New Colossus” takes the form of a sonnet, so we encourage you to look at other sonnets to better understand this style. We recommend you take a look at “The World Is Too Much with Us”, a sonnet by William Wordsworth in which the poet looks at the contrast between modernity and the natural world. You could also take a look at “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” by William Wordsworth, where the poet explores themes like awe and nat…