Emma Lazarus, poet of the huddled masses [audio 11min]

In her poem"The New Colossus," Emma Lazarus created what stood for years as an American credo. You know the words:"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..." The words of the poem were engraved on a bronze plaque hung in the Statue of Liberty museum 20 years after her death. To many, the verse expressed the governing U.S. attitude toward immigrants: Welcome. But today, a new debate over immigration is dominating the political debate. So it's a good time to take a new look at the writer. Esther Schor, poet and professor of English at Princeton University, offers that chance with a new biography: Emma Lazarus (Schocken). Report by Jacki Lyden. ~Website offers more of Lazarus's poetry.