The Lied and Art Song Texts Page

Lady of the harbor

Language: English

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!"


Engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the Statue of Liberty in 1903.

Authorship

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

    * by Lee Hoiby (1926-) , "Lady of the harbor", 1985, the words in quotes only [voice and piano], from Three Women, no. 2, note: the second piece in this song cycle was originally a setting of Thornton Wilder's "Goodbye, Goodbye, World," but after difficulty obtaining international publication rights from the Wilder family, Hoiby withdrew the song and replaced it with this one [setting text verified]

Date added to the website: 2009-10-08.

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