The New Colossus
.... Isaiah imagined a time when no “idolatrous oppressor”, as he puts it, will exile god’s people, enslave them, destroy their land, corrupt their religions, and dwell in their cities. The picture in which prophet Isaiah paints shows Jerusalem as a mother nursing the exiles. He saw Jerusalem as a mother more than land. Hyperbole, a rhetorical device, is used in the poem. Hyperbole is an exaggeration or overstatement. An example of a Hyperbole in “The New Colossus” is “conquering limbs” (Lazarus 2) is referring to the legs of the Statue of Liberty. It is an exaggeration because the legs are huge but not conquering. The legs are not overpowering someone. The reader gets a sense of power and strength because the line emits a sense of that. The strongest part of a woman is her legs and there for a sense of strength from ground up of the Statue of Liberty is given. Lazarus wanted to give off the strength of the Statue of Liberty as well as a woman’s strength being one herself. Another use of a hyperbole is spotted lurking in the poem, “Her mild eyes command” (Lazarus 7). This line is stating that the eyes of the Statue of Liberty can make you do something. That is an exaggeration because the eyes cannot command or make you do something because the eyes are lifeless and cold. The eyes give you a sense of hope and security. Lazarus felt that the eyes of the Statue of Liberty reached out far and wide and gave command to exiles everywhere to see refuge here at her home. A hyperbole is discovered within the poem, “With silent lips” (Lazarus 10). This line says that the lips of the Statue of Liberty are silent yet if you read on, Miss Lazarus make it out that the Statue of Liberty can talk. The Statue of Liberty says everything she needs to say without speaking. The Statue of Liberty is a symbol of freedom and hope for a new beginning. France as recognition of friendship established during the American Revolution gave the Statue of Liberty to us. This sends off to all exiles a sense of friendship and welcome. Allusion is a brief reference to a person, event, or place, real or fictitious, or to a work of art. Allusion is used two times in this poem. Allusion is used in the title “The New Colossus” (Lazarus Title). As that is a Metonymy it is also an Allusion. The title specifies to a work of art located in Greece. The work of art is a statue called “The Colossus of Rhodes”. Another piece of allusion can be seen in the last line of the poem, “golden door!” The golden door is referring to Ellis Island, which is the island in which immigrants arrived to and registered at. Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds in neighboring words. Alliteration is used one time in this poem. In lin...