Gun Dogs

Many poets from Newfoundland sketch its wildly beautiful geography; others have opened windows onto its speech patterns and social customs. James Langer does what no other poet does: he combines all sides of Newfoundland at nearly every turn with the surety of a singer who cannot sound any other way. Like gun dogs -- uncontrolled creatures seemingly under restraint -- the poems in this collection strain at the lead. The torque is felt in the line, the verb, the metaphor. The maturity of Langer's vision reveals itself in the cumulative effect of his rhetoric. He won't land on his quarry, whether Love, Forgiveness, Respect of Place, or Clarity of Memory. He will, however, attain a palpable wisdom within these poems, a measured equanimity that can be traced back to the Stoics. "Gun Dogs" marks the debut of a fully-formed talent that deserves a hearty and focused attention.