THE MAN WITH NIGHT

SWEATS, BY THOM Poem Analysis

Gunn left the United Kingdom to live in San Francisco with his boyfriend. The
Aids epidemic affected many of Gunn’s friends, and his poem, ‘The Man with Night
Sweats’ was inspired by the deaths of his friends. The poem was one in which Gunn
tried to ‘show people what it’s like to be something else’ .
Thom Gunn wrote a series of elegies to commemorate friends who lost their lives
to the AIDS virus.
This poem’s purpose is to encourage compassion in the reader and have us
intimately understand what it feels like to suffer with a terminal illness.
The man in the poem is dying. His body is weakening, and in the middle of the
night he is experiencing cold sweats, one of the symptoms of the severely developed
AIDS virus on the body.
LINE BY LINE ANALYSIS
The first line is in first person voice. (What is the effect of first person voice?)
Notice the punctuation too (caesura). What is the effect of the comma.
 We have our first contrast in the second line: cold and heat. This is the first conflict in the poem.
The second contrast is prospered and wrecked (later in the poem). Another contrast is the present
tense and past tense constantly blended together as he remembers the life he once had. All this is
deeply saddening.
Residue is ambiguous. The literal meaning is the sweat he is producing due to being ill. This
implied meaning could be his lost dreams (hopes for the future).
Shield- Metaphor for the health he took for granted.
Where it was gashed- This is an aggressive tone.
it healed- There is a simplicity to the caesura, a truth about cause and effect that is no longer valid.
He is reflecting on the life that he took for granted.
I grew as I explored- Grew and explored are ambiguous. This could refer to
developing his identity or a sexual encounter (or both)
The body…made robust- Notice the absence of the caesura. The stanza uses
enjambment, where the line flows without punctuation. This perhaps mirrors growth
of the speaker as he explored his sexuality and found his identity.
The risk that made robust- Perhaps this refers to unprotected sex.
A world of wonders- Alliteration and enjambment continued: The risk previously
mentioned developed into new world of wonders.
Challenge to the skin- Metaphorical ambiguity: could be challenging the speaker’s
identity or referring to the sensual passions of touch and caress
I cannot but be sorry- Tone of regret/mourning.
Shield was cracked- Second time the speaker’s shield is mentioned. Whereas before it
healed, now he has contracted HIV he knows it will not. Onomatopoeia signifies a shift.
Hurry- Tone of panic at hearing the news of positive test result.
My flesh reduced and wrecked- Second mention of flesh but whereas before it was a
shield, now it is reduced and wrecked. The virus has sadly started to take hold of the man’s
health . Destructive tone.
I have to change the bed- Normally a mundane task-now a task that seems harsh and
depressing. His loneliness is made intimate. We feel for this man and wish we could help,
but we are helpless spectators of a ravaging virus taking hold of him.
But catch myself instead- he suddenly remembers his situation.
Stopped- Adjective to describe the power of the virus.
Upright- Confident posture contrasts his weakening health. He is living with virus but often
suddenly remembers its presence.
Hugging my body to me- The first really profound image in the poem. A sense of despair and
loneliness is evoked showing us this man is need of care and compassion.
As if to shield it from- Third image of a shield. This time used as a verb, preceded by as if,
perhaps conveying the futility of trying to fight this virus.
The pains- Notice how it is pluralized. This may represents the multiple side effects of the virus,
which at a late stage of development affect the immune system, triggering a range of symptoms.
As if hands were enough- This metaphor is terrifying and deeply saddening. He repeats the
phrase as if, and expresses the stark fact that this virus will kill him and his bodily defenses will
fail.
STRUCTURE AND LANGUAGE
The poem has a well-defined structure through most of the eight stanzas, with a pattern of a 4-lined
stanza (quartet) followed by a 2-lined stanza and then a 4-lined stanza and so on. Each line has six
syllables, or three feet (iambs) of stressed/unstressed syllables. This is called iambic trimeter. In
addition, the poem has rhyming couplets in the first four stanzas in alternate lines – so the rhyme scheme
is abab, cc, dede, ff. This well-defined structure starts to loosen in the fifth stanza, as the rhyme scheme
ghgh is held together by two half-rhymes (‘sorry’, ‘hurry’ and ‘cracked’, wrecked’). The sixth stanza is a
clear rhyming couplet, but is then followed by a 4-lined stanza that only contains one rhyming couplet
using a repeated word, ‘me’, with the final stanza having no rhyme.
The poet has used structure for deliberate effect. The short lines could illustrate his fragmented thoughts,
or shortness of breath to mimic his physical condition. Perhaps Gunn is hesitant about revealing the
details of the issues that face the narrator (it may be Gunn’s perspective, or he may have written it from
another persona). The poem was written after the Aids epidemic that had affected so many gay men in
San Francisco – it could be that the poem is about someone afflicted with Aids. If this is so, the strict
structure through the first four stanzas can be seen as the narrator keeping the issue under control until it
becomes apparent that the disease cannot be controlled any more than the lines or rhymes in the poem.
TONE
This poem is an elegy, a lament for the loss of life, or the life that will be lost to
Aids, or the loss of physical health. Yet the tone is not moralistic (about the dangers of
homosexuality or Aids) nor self-indulgent or self-pitiful. If anything, the tone is non-
emotional, matter-of-fact and direct.

There is also a sense of pride towards his body (see lines 4-11) as he trusted his body
and soul to be a strength and a ‘shield’. This pride and strength is replaced by regret ‘I
cannot by be sorry’ and finally a realization of the futility of his situation, his illness
(see lines 22-24). Gunn’s regret is created by the realization that he has brought the
disease and its side effects (such as the night sweats) upon himself. His acceptance of
the ravages of the disease is revealed in the future tense of the pains ‘that will go
through’ and his repetitive ‘as if’ (lines 22, 24).
THEMES
Themes in this poem include life and loss, regret and acceptance. When poets write,
they have a purpose for doing so; the themes that run through their poems are their
interpretations of life. In Gunn’s case, he is writing about a particularly tragic time in
his life – Aids became a problem in the 1980s and there was so much ignorance and
fear surrounding the disease. At the time Gunn was writing his poem, he wanted to
capture his reality, as he saw it. Mentioned before, but worth repeating, this poem is
not full of self-pity, but is more directly elucidating a condition that many might not
have understood from a first-person perspective. Gunn expects us to transition with
him, from the present physical condition of the night sweats, to reminiscing about
his vitality and youth, to regretting his behavior that has led to his ‘wrecked’ body, to
an acceptance that he will go through more pain.