"The New Colossus" is a sonnet by American poet Emma Lazarus (1849–1887), written in 1883.  In 1903, the poem was engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the lower level of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.  Solicited by fundraiser William Maxwell Evarts.  Initially she refused but Constance Cary Harrison convinced her that the statue would be of great significance to immigrants sailing into the harbor.  "The New Colossus" was the first entry read at the exhibit's opening, but was forgotten and played no role at the opening of the statue in 1886.  In 1901, Lazarus's friend Georgina Schuyler began an effort to memorialize Lazarus and her poem, which succeeded in 1903 when a plaque bearing the text of the poem was put on the inner wall of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.  The title of the poem and the first two lines refer to the Colossus of Rhodes, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  The poem talks about the millions of immigrants who came to the United States (many of them through Ellis Island at the port of New York).  The "air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame" refers to New York City and Brooklyn, which were consolidated into one unit in 1898, 15 years after the poem was written.  Paul Auster wrote that "Bartholdi's gigantic effigy was originally intended as a monument to the principles of international republicanism, but 'The New Colossus' reinvented the statue's purpose, turning Liberty into a welcoming mother, a symbol of hope to the outcasts and downtrodden of the world."  John T. Cunningham wrote that "The Statue of Liberty was not conceived and sculpted as a symbol of immigration, but it quickly became so as immigrant ships passed under the torch and the shining face, heading toward Ellis Island.  However, it was [Lazarus's poem] that permanently stamped on Miss Liberty the role of unofficial greeter of incoming immigrants."  The poem has entered the political realm.  It was quoted in John F. Kennedy's book A Nation of Immigrants (1958) as well as a 2010 political speech by President Obama advocating immigration policy reform.  Parts of the poem also appear in popular culture.  The Broadway musical Miss Liberty, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin, an immigrant himself, used final stanza beginning "Give me your tired, your poor" as the basis for a song.  It was also read in the 1941 film Hold Back the Dawn as well as being recited by the heroine in Alfred Hitchcock's wartime film Saboteur.  See pictures at  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_Colossus  See also https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/emma-lazarus.htm

The New Colussus by Emma Lazarus

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-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

http://memorizepoetry.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-new-colussus-by-emma-lazarus.html

fictional alphabets  Writing systems used in books, films and computer games.  Find Tolkien's alphabets and other fictional alphabets at http://www.omniglot.com/conscripts/fictional.htm

Exaggerator, ridden by  jockey Kent Desormeaux, beat Nyquist to win the 141st Preakness Stakes at Pimilico Race Course on May 21, 2016.  He completed 1-3/16 miles on sloppy, sealed track in 1:58.31.  It rained in Baltimore overnight and well into the morning before letting up shortly before noon.  Trained by Keith Desormeaux, Kent's younger brother, Exaggerator showed his talent in the slop once again, as the horse won for the third time in four lifetime races in these conditions, including the Santa Anita Derby.  http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/15649922/exaggerator-outlasts-nyquist-win-preakness-stakes

Adolf Born (1930–2016) was a Czech painter and illustrator, caricaturist and film-maker.  Born in the town of České Velenice on the Bohemian side of the southern border with Austria, Adolf Born got his Visual Arts Education from 1949 to 1955 in Prague, where he lived and worked.  Since the 1960s his works have been exhibited all over the world.  In 1974, Born was declared cartoonist of the year in Montreal and he won the Palma d'Oro in Bordighera, Italy.  One of the forms he specialised in was the bookplate (the "ex libris"), usually using colour lithography.  He held over 100 exhibitions, illustrated hundreds of books and designed theatre sets and costumes.  The asteroid 17806 Adolfborn is named after him.  He died on 22 May 2016 at the age of 85.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Born

The ten buildings, homes, parks, and towns that changed America from PBS

Explore these 40 superlative works of American architecture, landscape design, and urban planning to learn not only how these wonders of our built environment were created, but how they affect us all.  http://interactive.wttw.com/ten#.VzI7aoQrKUm   See also http://www.pbs.org/show/10-changed-america/   Thank you, Muse reader!

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1475  May 23, 2016  On this date 1814, Beethoven's only opera, "Fidelio," after 10 years of redrafts, received its world premiere in 1814.  A performance on November 20, 1805 was a failure.   http://www.dw.com/en/premiere-of-beethovens-fidelio-200-years-ago/a-17648024  On this date in 1911, the New York Public Library was dedicated.