Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE AGING COLOSSUS, by JULIAN MOSES DRACHMAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE AGING COLOSSUS, by                    
First Line: Liberty, they are polishing your crown
Last Line: Shut not their gate of hope, o liberty!
Subject(s): Lazarus, Emma (1849-1887); Statue Of Liberty


(With the apologies of the era to THE NEW COLOSSUS by Emma Lazarus, engraved
upon the base of the Statue of Liberty.)

Liberty, they are polishing your crown,
Scouring the tarnish of your fifty years,
But, Liberty, your torch is flickering down
To a dull glow, your eyes are dim with tears --
Mother of Exiles, can you still invite
The troubled world to send its tired, its poor
To you for comfort? Dare you lift your light
In gallant welcome at an open door?

Are the days dead when you could spread your arms
To huddled masses struggling to breathe free?
With all the outer world racked with alarms,
When yelling violence smites, and cruelty
Hurls piteous beings forth in shuddering swarms,
Shut not their gate of hope, O Liberty!





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