<P> The poem is a Petrarchan sonnet . </P> <P> 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, sometimes described as standing astride the harbor . </P> <P> The "sea - washed, sunset gates" are the mouths of the Hudson and East Rivers, to the west of Brooklyn . The "imprisoned lightning" refers to the electric light in the torch, then a novelty . </P> <P> The "air - bridged harbor that twin cities frame" refers to New York Harbor between New York City and Brooklyn, which were consolidated into one unit in 1898, 15 years after the poem was written . </P>

What's written on the statue of liberty book