Challenges to Young Poets

Lesley Grove

Wilson

LTEL 155B

10 October 2008

Challenges to Young Poets

Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poem, “Challenges to Young Poets”, is an

example of San Francisco as a mongrel city. He is describing San Francisco as a

poetic city on the edge of social innovation and freedom.

In this poem, Ferlinghetti writes of the idea of being an individual and

standing up for oneself against the norm and harsh life of critics and false

personas. At the same time, he touches on the fact that everyone is the same, all

naïve and innocent, and living in an unfamiliar world which we are all trying to

get used to. He is reminding us to always question what is put in front of us, and

to walk our own path in life. This poem is also a list of ideas to keep oneself busy

and curious, which is the only way to really learn, by being inquisitive.

Through his poems, Ferlinghetti trys to give us the answers to living a

free life outside of the corrupt structure that gets enforced on each of us.

Ferlinghetti is representing San Francisco through all these ideas as if to say,

“all of San Francisco thinks as free and liberal as this, or at least they should”.

The poem, “Challenges to Young Poets”, suggests social innovation and freedom

both, because it is asking poets and people to engage in things that are out of

the ordinary and reaching the boundaries of making people feel uncomfortable

or out of their comfort zone, as a way to liberate them.

He is asking us to contemplate obvious things, as if we never thought of

it ourselves, which we haven’t, making all of his challenges and ideas intriguing,

and worth the effort it is to fight for the social freedom it takes to accomplish

these goals