Happy 4th of July ... Week

Statue of Liberty at Dawn © Claudia Ward

We sincerely wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July ... week, remembering the liberties and principles upon which our country was founded.

As I was watching the Boston Pops last night, I was brought to tears listening to the Oscar, Tony and Emmy award winner Rita Moreno (86),  a woman of Puerto Rican descent describe her first sighting of the Statue of Liberty, followed by a reading from "The New Colossus". This poem was written by Emma Lazarus, a descendent of early Jewish settlers of Portuguese origin, in 1883, to be sold to raise money for the Statue of Liberty's pedestal. In 1903, the poem was inscribed on a plaque that is on display at the Statue of Liberty site for all to see. The Statue was a gift from the people of France; Americans built its foundation.

     The New Colossus

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-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

 

1883.

      (Written in aid of Bartholdi Pedestal Fund)"

 

Happy 4th of July one and all, from a woman of Scottish and Irish descent.