Sudden Proclamations

Shannon Hengen is an assistant professor of English at Laurentian
University.

Newman’s imaginative world is filled with the sudden proclamations of
his title, surprising the reader through wisdoms and figures of speech.
“The only things we ever learn / are by surprise,” the persona
states in one poem, as if to confirm Newman’s method. The theme of
learning persists through the volume in poems that form lessons for
heart and mind. While sometimes wonderfully playful, these lessons are
never pompous, indulgent, or glib.

Some of the most striking wisdoms of the volume have to do with sadness
and death: “Have you learned yet / with all your heart to be sad.../
Little portions of grief, I tell you, / go down harder than the
whole.” But celebrations of joy also appear within what seems to be
the overarching topic of love. “What is the use of use / when we would
be children / playing for pointless joy?”

Newman’s language and figures of speech are highly effective in
educating the reader on matters of the heart. The word “heart”
appears four times in the first three poems to underline the subject,
and near the end of the volume, the persona links sadness, death, and
love with this effective metaphor: “The heart is an abandoned cave . .
. The universe echoes / with the death of love.”

Few questions appear in these poems. Declarative and, at times,
imperative statements are more characteristic. Readers can appreciate
the lessons proffered by this voice.