The poem welcomes Mother of Exiles and tired, poor masses yearning to breathe free to America, represented as a mighty woman with a torch at the entrance to New York Harbor. It contrasts this vision with ancient lands keeping their storied pomp and invites the homeless and tempest-tost to the golden door of opportunity. The document then shifts to discussing the US economy in the late 1800s-early 1900s, including the rise of monopolies, capitalism, and social Darwinism, before providing statistics on the largest American companies by industry in 2008.