The Global Citizens Project is a strategy implemented throughout the University of South Florida in order to encourage the pursuit of a global perspective in all aspects of the learning experience and providing students with the ability to understand the importance and impact of diversity. The University of South Florida strives to create a global student body with the qualities of global awareness, global responsibility, and global participation allowing for engagement in diverse situations and opportunities. Our Goal is to explore the influence and lives of four global poets, Mirza Ghalib, Wole Soyinka, Juana Inés de la Cruz and Tomas Tranströmer from India, Nigeria, Mexico, and Sweden respectively. Our group, composed of Aleeshba Basil, Matthew Bukovi, Kylee Burroughs, and Ashley Chadwick will be collaborating in order to analyze and pay homage to the highly influential lives of these poets. Aleeshba Basil will be studying the works "What Cannot Be Said" and "The World Is A Playground" or "Bazeecha-E-Atfal Hai Duniya Mere Aage" by Mirza Ghalib, a groundbreaking Urdu and Persian poet famous for his development of the poetic form of the Ghazal. Kylee Burroughs will be studying the writings "Primero Sueño" and "Hombres Necios" by Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th century nun, self taught scholar and a Latin American writer, who influenced the Mexican nation's knowledge and became a major Hispanic icon. Matthew Bukovi will be analyzing the works "Civilian and Soldier" and "Dedication" by the prestigious Nigerian poet, playwright, and political activist Wole Soyinka, an influential figure in Africa that writes about controversial issues pertaining to political corruption in Nigeria. Ashley Chadwick discussed the works "The Couple" and "Outskirts" by Tomas Tranströmer, a Swedish poet whose works mainly encircled around the beautiful wonders of nature and led him to be regarded as the best Swedish poet of his era. Synthesis Poetry has played an important part throughout history in the development of culture and has been a common outlet for emotions for people throughout the world. The abstract nature of the literary form allows for many different approaches and interpretations of works, which has engaged readers throughout the ages. Mirza Ghalib, Wole Soyinka, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Tomas Tranströmer revolutionized poetry in all parts of the world. Their distinct poetic styles and original subject matter are influential even today. Furthermore, their contrasting nationalities and time periods of prominence illustrates the timeless nature of poetry, as well as its adaptive nature. Despite the differences in subject matter and poetic rhetoric of these poets, they were equally as important to the common notions of poetry present today. When analyzing the poet, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and her poems compared to the other poet’s offered on this website, one of the first initial differences is the culture each poet was born into. Sor Juana being born in a traditional Hispanic culture in the 1650’s defiantly has many distinct differences in writing style, personal life experiences and the platform she chooses to speak on compared to Mirza Ghalib, from India, Wole Soyinka, from Nigeria, and lastly Tomas Tranströmer, from Sweden. Though all poets are similar in the uses of expressing their beliefs within their writing, each of them focused on specific criteria. Juana mainly generates her ideas on women’s right and religious criticism using the writing scheme of redondillas whereas poets like Mirza Ghalib who use the structure of Ghazal poetry. In her early age Sor Juana wrote similar pieces as Soyinka, discussing topics on politics relevant to their era and region. Mirza Ghalib’s unique poetic style and subject matter revolutionized the poetry of the late Mughal Empire, and presented an entirely original manner of expressing oneself. This poetic power is presented in the works by Wole Soyinka, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Tomas Tranströmer as well, albeit in different ways. Ghalib’s implementation of often controversial and candid subject matter (that he explored in his themes of sinful love, discrepancies in faith, and misery caused by his increasing loss of hope in God) closely mirrored the poetic choices of both Wole Soyinka and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, what with Wole Soyinka’s opinionated rhetoric and de la Cruz’s feminist ideology interwoven throughout their works in order to convey a meaningful message to their audience. However, Ghalib’s works followed a more personal train of thought, where the audience gained insight into his personal struggles in life, whereas the topics discussed by Wole Soyinka and Juana de la Cruz generally commented on the state of the world. All three authors did, nevertheless, present radical notions unheard of at the time period in order to create a long lasting effect on poetry throughout the world. The lyrical quality so characteristic of Ghalib’s works was also very prevalent in Tomas Tranströmer’s works and caused the themes the poets conveyed to be very engaging even today. Wole Soyinka's vexed writing topics enlightened fellow Nigerians and provoked political change during times of precarious Nigerian dictatorships. Mirza Ghalib and Wole Soyinka both were known for writing controversial literary works and for being heavily influenced by their regions current affairs. In fact, Ghalib and Soyinka experienced independence from Britain, which has noticeably impacted their writing themes in certain literary works. As for writing style, Soyinka's free verse poems are divergent from the other writers, yet Ghalib and de la Cruz evidently share similar writing themes concerning political occurrences during their lifetime. On the contrary, Tomas Tranströmer’s poems depicting nature can be compared to the poem "Dedication" by Wole Soyinka, since it illustrates nature in South Africa. Tomas Tranströmer's poetry had influence world wide, being translated into many languages. A portion of his poems focused on day to day life, and issues on the small scale. His poems would often have religious undertones, and he has been described as a "Christian poet". Religion influenced all of the previous poets tremendously, just as it did Tranströmer who interwove it throughout his work. Literature is a product of the environment it is created in, and religion has been a universally influential concept over the centuries. Ghalib and Tranströmer's similar musical verbiage was also one of the largest reasons why their works were so groundbreaking and widely distributed. The poets Mirza Ghalib, Tomas Tranströmer, Wole Soyinka, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz despite their extremely different backgrounds are united in their common search for meaning in the world, and their constant aspiration to portray their true selves in their work. The candid nature of poetry has allowed for many a poet to have an outlet, whether it be to relieve frustration, portray a revolutionary idea to their audience, or just to appreciate the wonders of the world. These four poets used this means as a platform to transform the world around them, and today continue to entrance readers around the world.