<P> `` The New Colossus '' is a sonnet that American poet Emma Lazarus ( 1849 -- 1887 ) wrote in 1883 to raise money for the construction of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty . In 1903 , the poem was engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal 's lower level . </P>
<P> `` The New Colossus '' is a sonnet that American poet Emma Lazarus ( 1849 -- 1887 ) wrote in 1883 to raise money for the construction of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty . In 1903 , the poem was engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal 's lower level . </P>
where is the poem located on the statue of liberty
where is the poem located on the statue of liberty
inside the pedestal 's lower level
inside the pedestal 's lower level