The man with night sweats

• personal response

  the poem is about HIV and homosexuality, written at a time where it wasn't fully accepted. Thom Gunn lost many friends to the disease. Poem trying to spread awareness and showing its nothing to be afraid of. The narrator has nobility as he has no shame despite where he ended up. He still thinks positively about it, even though the consequences were dire
• "hugging my body to me"

  'hugging' is supposed to be an affectionate act - personal pronouns show he is alone (theme of isolation)
• enjambment

  1st stanze - increase in pace refers to his thoughts racing and uncontrollable due to anxiety

  3rd stanza - excitement when talking about his youth
• rhyming of "cracked" and "wrecked"

  oblique, indirect breakdown in structure refers to his mental breakdown
• "I grew as I explored" ... "even while I adored the risk that made robust"


  he felt strong and confident, loved the adrenaline. yet all in past tense suggesting he is no longer capable

  contrast of adore and risk shows the complex relationship with his body - faced challenges he knew could harm him - willingness + head-strong
• "my flesh was its own shield, where it gashed, it healed"

  his immune system was his shield, trusted with protecting from disease, "was" suggests it can't anymore, now he has to shield his body instead
• rhyming early in poem vs later

  3rd stanza - creates harmonious tone, pleasant to read contrasts with 5th stanza which is harsh rhyming. alludes to happiness before now replaced by pain
• "as if hands were enough to hold an avalanche off"

  represents his understanding of his futility and weakness against such a powerful force. comparison of hands - body - holding off avalanche - HIV and pain.

  highlights vulnerability and desperation
• sharp sounds of 'k'

  insinuates his pain, empathize for him
• "I wake up cold, I who"

  caesura - the pause alludes to his confusion when he wakes up - potential forgetting his problems in his dreams, his pain so severe
• contrast between cold and heat (1st stanza)


  contrast between past and present self

  heat - sexual passion / actual fever

  cold - connotes fear, panic, loneliness
• "sweats, and a clinging sheet"

  sensory image of discomfort alludes to disease
• 1st quatrain rhyme scheme

  constant - ABAB. wants to control thoughts + emotions

  (+ caesura of short lines helps keep emotions contained)
• "I cannot but be sorry that the given shield was cracked"

  shows his regret, he has been impacted physically and emotionally. 'cracked' suggests his ability to defend himself has weakened.

  sombre tone created as narrator grapples with his new reality