Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Lamp Beside The Golden Door, Pt. 1

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

The colossus earned a place in the famous list of Wonders. "But even lying on the ground, it is a marvel", said Pliny the Elder. The Colossus of Rhodes was not only a gigantic statue. It was rather a symbol of unity of the people who inhabited that beautiful Mediterranean island -- Rhodes
The construction of the Colossus took 12 years and was finished in 282 BC. For just a span of 56 years, the statue stood at the harbor entrance, until a strong earthquake hit Rhodes about 226 BC..the Rhodians immediately received an offer from Ptolemy III Eurgetes of Egypt to cover all restoration costs for the toppled monument, but rejected it after consulting an oracle?
For almost a millennium, the statue lay broken in ruins. In AD 654, the Arabs invaded Rhodes. They disassembled the remains of the broken Colossus and sold them to a Jew from Syria..Hmm?

(Emma Lazarus penned the the following in 1883)

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame..
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-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Sunday marked the anniversary of Martin Luther King..and it made me thankful we live in a Country where we can see real change
  But I must digress..(Pt. 2 next)~

6 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

The Colosses was REAL? Gosh, you learn something new every day. I thought it was a Greek myth!!!! This is a sad story, and they should have rebuilt it. I imagine Lady Liberty is a pale comparrison.

MadSnapper said...

i am with ginny, thought it was a myth.

Leenie said...

Thanks for the reminder and the history of one of the Seven Wonders. It was also good to have Ms. Lazarus' words in their complete form instead of just the final verse. The mean much more in this context.

Kilauea Poetry said...

Thanks Ginny and Sandra..I found it pretty amazing (actually made out of bronze and iron) but too bad they never rebuilt it?
Leenie..thanks, I felt that way too as some of it was omitted recently?

The Write Girl said...

This is an intriguing post...thanks for your history thoughts and reflections.

Kilauea Poetry said...

Thank you for the read and your thoughts Katina!

Let's be perfectly clear- the war on free speech is spiritual!