The Man with Night Sweats, Thom Gunn: Summary, Analysis & Themes

In The Man with Night Sweats, Thomas Gunn uses a first-person perspective to delve into the horrors of the AIDS epidemic, offering an intimate viewpoint. The speaker in the poem symbolizes all those Gunn lost to the disease during the 1980s, a time when the public had yet to fully grasp the extent of the crisis. Thousands perished, leaving a profound impact on the gay community that lasted for decades. While Gunn himself survived, living until 2004, he spent much of his life contemplating death and the significance of being one of the few to live into old age. This poem is just one of several he wrote on the subject. The Man with Night Sweats By Thom Gunn I wake up cold, I who Prospered through dreams of heat Wake to their residue, Sweat, and a clinging sheet. My flesh was its own shield: Where it was gashed, it healed. I grew as I explored The body I could trust Even while I adored The risk that made robust, A world of wonders in Each challenge to the skin. I ca…