This is the Global Citizens Poetry Project from Group 1 in LIT 2000 at the University of South Florida. This website examines past cultures from poets all over the world in an effort to bring students from various backgrounds together through poetry. We examined poets from Poland, China, France, Ireland, and America. This is part of a the campus-wide initiative aimed at enhancing undergraduate students' global competencies through the development of new and improved curricular and co-curricular experiences. USF envisions itself as a global research university dedicated to student success. The goal of the Global Citizens Project is achieved through this strategic plan of "well-educated and highly skilled global citizens through our continuing commitment to student success."
The Global Citizens Project is part of USF's quality enhancement plan or QEP. A QEP is a plan to enhance student learning in a particular area that is deemed important by the university and aligns with the university's strategic plan.
One of the great and appreciable things about poetry is its wide range of diversity. As a group, this diversity is demonstrated with extensive historical, geographical, and socio-cultural research on poets from a variety of backgrounds. The poets covered include Wislawa Szymborska, of polish decent, Walt Whitman and Sylvia Plath, of American decent, William Butler Yeats, of Irish decent, Aimé Césaire, of French decent, and Li Bai and Dufu, of Chinese decent. This paper will compare and contrast the works of these poets by way of their historical, geographical, and socio-cultural backgrounds.
One of the greatest common grounds for inspiration for all the poets, with the exception of Sylvia Plath, was war and political strife. Wislawa, Yeats, and Césaire all gathered inspiration from WWII. Another similarity Wislawa and Césaire share is the fact both belonged to the Communist party until later in each of their lives. Césaire went on to establish his own Martinique Independent Revolution Party and Wislawa joined the Polish Writers’ Union and the Socialist Party. Similarly to Wislawa, Yeats, and Césaire, Whitman also gathered inspiration from war. More specifically, the American Civil War in which he was a volunteer at hospitals in Washington, D.C. Li Bai and Dufu also gathered inspiration for their poetry from war and crisis. Both were inspired by An Lushan Rebellion, although they were on separate sides.
Unlike the other poets, Sylvia Plath gathered her inspiration from her own depression and the societal pressures she experienced and witnessed placed on women. She is well-known for having a confessional style of poetry and often spoke out against the sexist roles society placed on women, something unheard of during this time. Ultimately her own depression led to her demise and she committed suicide in February 1963.
As mentioned earlier, Li Bai and Dufu found inspiration from the same rebellion, although they were on different sides. Both poets are highly recognized for leaving legacies in Chinese literature. However, they lead very different lives. Li Bai was a romantic poet where as Dufu was a realist poet. Li Bai is also known to have had a very wild life in comparison to Dufu. He often ran into political trouble and even spent part of his life in exile. Dufu, on the other hand, was more reserved and didn’t stir up as much strife. To this day Li Bai is thought of as “immortal banished from Heaven” by Chinese critics.
The diversity found in poetry is part of what makes it so beautiful and unique to study. Whether studying poets of Irish decent, French decent, American decent, Polish decent, or Chinese decent, there is something to be learned and admired from all. By comparing and contrasting each of these poets and where they found inspiration helps readers appreciate the historical, geographical, and socio-cultural influences and ideas each brings to the table. The works of Wislawa Szymborska, Walt Whitman, Sylvia Plath, William Butler Yeats, Aimé Césaire, Li Bai and Dufu have many similarities and differences that gives readers a newfound appreciation of poetry.
Read more about Group 1 contributors: Haley Bryan, Whitney Cleoplat, Lenzi Stowers, Sheng Han, and Bailey McLaren under the tab "About Us"
