The inscription on the Statue of Liberty is from Emma Lazarus’s poem “The New Colossus.” The best-known lines are: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

What it says

The full sonnet is on a plaque at the statue’s pedestal, and it ends with: “I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Why it matters

Those words turned the statue into a symbol of welcome for immigrants and refugees arriving in the United States.

Short version

If you mean the famous inscription people usually quote, it’s the line: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”