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Clare Pollard
Posted by: Dr Doom (202.23.191.---)
Date: December 14, 2021 01:04AM

Hi, im new to poetry.
Iv just started to read Heavy-Petting Zoo written
by Clare Pollard, a British Poet.
My favourite poem in the book turns out to be "From A Friday Night
At the End of the Millenium"
The problem is that i dont seem to figure out what the actual message
is, and what's really included in it.
Could any1 help? Pleez


Re: Clare Pollard
Posted by: IanB (---.tnt11.mel1.da.uu.net)
Date: December 14, 2021 07:20AM

Can you provide the text of the poem?


Re: Clare Pollard
Posted by: Hugh Clary (12.73.175.---)
Date: December 14, 2021 12:22PM

Here is some of it:

[www.durhamcityarts.demon.co.uk] />
Doesn't sound quite like my cup of java personally.


Re: Clare Pollard
Posted by: Marian-NYC (---.nyc1.dsl.speakeasy.net)
Date: December 14, 2021 01:22PM

"what the actual message is, and what's really included in it" ?


I don't read it as a "message" poem. It seems to me more like she just wanted to capture how it feels to be clubbing and a little depressed and not thinking completely clearly -- and going to the toilet.

If there's any message, it may reside here:

   This bad luck is my own responsibility.

   It is my own fault,

   I take all the blame.

   I vow to aim lower and stop thinking ...

The poem is recalling (NOT recommending) a mindset where "aiming lower" seems like a good idea.

I think she's just describing the state of mind of someone who is poised to do something really stupid.


Re: Clare Pollard
Posted by: Dr Doom (202.23.191.---)
Date: December 15, 2021 05:37AM

Thanx Marian-NYC!!
your interpretaion really helped :-)
But there is one other thing that i dont seem to figure out.
It says

"I vow to aim lower and stop thinking
I'm the second coming,"

What does this "second coming" referred to as?
I'm sorry for causing you trouble, but im Japanese
so I have some trouble with the language.


Re: Clare Pollard
Posted by: RJAllen (193.114.111.---)
Date: December 15, 2021 09:30AM

"The second coming" refers to the xtian belief that Christ will return again to bring about the end of the earth and judge the living and the dead.
It's also a very famous poem by W B Yeats, which has been discussed here I think. Going by what Pollard writes and the way she writes I don't think she's been influenced by Yeats though.


Re: Clare Pollard
Posted by: Hugh Clary (---.denver-01rh15-16rt.co.dial-access.att.net)
Date: December 15, 2021 11:40AM

Just in case the 'xtian' does not translate well into Japanese, see also:

[tinyurl.com] />
In other words, she should stop thinking of herself as a divine being, a second Christ figure.


Re: Clare Pollard
Posted by: Dr Doom (202.23.191.---)
Date: December 15, 2021 11:07PM

Thanx a lot RJAllen & Hugh Clary!!
your guides really, really helped :-)




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