The New Colossus Trivia Quiz

Answer: Petrarchan sonnet

The poem is an Italian style sonnet, with 8 verses in the first stanza and six in the second. It also follows the metric scheme abbaabba cdcdcd. It is named after the 14th century Italian poet Petrarch. While Petrarch did not invent the style, his work did popularize it.

While Shakespeare wrote many sonnets, structurally they were quite different than the sonnets written by the Italian poets who originated the form. Haiku originated in Japan; it is a 17 syllable poem divided into three parts (5-7-5). Odes date back to ancient Greece, and are generally formal works on serious subjects. While the structure of odes varies, they are usually longer than sonnets.

Answer: The Statue of Liberty

Since the poem talks about "a mighty woman with a torch" it is fairly obvious it is about the Statue of Liberty. Lazarus wrote the poem in 1883 to raise funds to build the pedestal to hold Bartholdi's statue. While the statue was paid for, the pedestal designed for it by architect Richard Morris Hunt was not.

The statue was the idea of Frenchman Edouard de Laboulaye. It was sculpted by Frederic Auguste Batholdi. The engineering in the statue was designed by Gustave Eiffel, who built a tower in Paris. The statue is 305 feet tall. It was assembled on Liberty Island between June 1885 and October 1886.

The Brooklyn Bridge was under construction in 1883, as were the Dakota Apartments. The famous apartment complex was completed in October 1884. The Eiffel Tower was constructed for the 1889 World's Fair to celebrate the centennial of the French Revolution; from 1889 until 1930, it was the tallest man-made structure in the world.

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886. Lazarus died on November 19, 1887, only a year later, of Hogdkin's Lymphoma. She was only 38 years old. Lazarus is buried at Beth Olam Cemetery, a large Jewish cemetery in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Cardozo is also buried there.

Answer: Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge was under construction at the time Lazarus was writing the poem. It was designed by John August Roebling and completed on May 24, 1883. It was the world's very first steel-wire suspension bridge. It stretches just over 6000 feet across the East River between Brooklyn and Manhattan.

The Verrazano Narrows Bridge, which connects Staten Island and Brooklyn, was completed in 1959. The George Washington Bridge, between New Jersey and the upper west side of Manhattan, opened in 1931. And the Williamsburg Bridge, which connects Manhattan and Brooklyn, began construction in 1896 and was completed in 1903.

Answer: Infesting vermin

Lady Liberty welcomes "huddled masses yearning to breath free", "the wretched refuse" and "the homeless, tempest-tost" according to Lazarus.

"Infestation" and "vermin" are words frequently used by opponents of immigration to describe immigrants as undesirable visitors. Such opponents have regularly used the word "infest" to defend policies that would restrict immigration.

Answer: limbs, hand, eyes, lips

The poem mentions the "conquering limbs" of the original Colossus of Rhodes and the "beacon-hand" of the Statue of Liberty. Her "mild eyes" and "silent lips" are also mentioned.

"Head, shoulders, knees and toes" is a popular pre-school song to teach young children about the parts of the body. "Hands, feet and head" come up in the Hokey Pokey, a popular children's song/dance.

Answer: Golden

"I lift my lamp beside the golden door" is the last line of the poem.

Jersey City, New Jersey sometimes refers to itself as "America's golden door" because it was the first place that many immigrants entered the United States.

Ellis Island was also known as "The Golden Door". Between 1892 and 1954, approximately 12 million people entered the United States through its immigration station. Possession of the island was in dispute between New York and New Jersey for decades, until the Supreme Court settled the issue in 1998.

Answer: Mother of Exiles

Technically, the Statue of Liberty is a nickname as well. The official name of the statue is "Liberty Enlightening the World".

The Statue of Liberty is the "Mother of Exiles", welcoming new arrivals to the United States. It would have been one of the first things that European immigrants to the United States saw, as millions entered via nearby Ellis Island immigration station.

"Brazen Giant" refers to the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, an enormous statue on the Greek Island which was clad in bronze. "Lady Liberty" is a frequent nickname for the statue. "Green goddess" is a type of salad dressing; while the statue is green thanks to the tarnish on its copper shell, this is not a common nickname.

Answer: No

Emma Lazarus was born in New York City on July 22, 1849. As a matter of fact, her ancestors had been settled in New York for over a century by the time she wrote "The New Colossus". One of her grandfathers was an immigrant from Germany, but the vast majority of her family came from Portugal.

Lazarus began writing as a child. Her first book was published in 1867. Along with being a noted writer, Lazarus was an immigrant rights activist, working with newly arrived Jewish refugee families from Russia.

Answer: Storied Pomp

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" she states in the ninth line of the poem. It is a rejection of the history of the lands that immigrants had departed from. Most of them were from Eastern Europe at the time Lazarus was writing "The New Colossus."

This sentiment is in keeping with much of the thrust of US political history and philosophy. After all, the United States was created by a revolution against the King of England. Opposition to dictatorship has been central to US political philosophy ever since.

Answer: 1903

The plaque was erected in 1903, 20 years after Lazarus wrote the poem. It was sponsored by friends of Emma Lazarus. The plaque was at the base of the Statue of Liberty until the site was renovated in 1986. Today it can be found in the Statue of Liberty Museum.