Analysis Of The Poem In The Jewish Synagogue At Newport

Lazarus was a Jew living in New York during the late 19th century. Her ancestors had been expelled from Spain in 1492 under the Spanish monarchs, Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon. Once in the United States her family became more secular but still practiced the main Jewish holidays. In her poem In the Jewish Synagogue at Newport, Lazarus reflects on what life in the new world means to her, her family, and other Jews that have also become more secular over the generations. This poem can be broken up into three parts. The first part is her looking around the synagogue in Newport. The second part is flashbacks to the history of her ancestors and the Jewish people. The third, and final, part of the poem is thoughts about what it means to be Jewish. …show more content…
The feelings can be seen in the 10th stanza. “The funeral and the marriage, now alas! We know not which is sadder to recall”. In these lines the funeral is sad because it deals with death, maybe the death of her faith, the marriage may be sad because a bride gives up her old life with her family to start a new one. Also, a marriage maybe seen as sad because the bride generally changes her family name to that of her new husband, name changes were also common among immigrants who, like a bride, were starting new lives. The last stanza shows how she is not the only one who has lost their faith and heritage. “Nathless the sacred shrine is holy yet, With its lone floors where reverent feet once trod” The floors are lone because many in the Jewish community had stopped coming into the synagogue. This poem gives the impression that she may feel guilty because her ancestors had been persecuted since the foundation of the religion, but once they reached the new world where they were free to practice it they had turned there back on