The Man with Night Sweats (Masterplots II: Poetry, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Thom Gunn
- First Published: 1987
- Type of Work: Dramatic monologue
- Genres: Poetry, Dramatic monologue
- Subjects: Gay men, Homosexuality or homosexuals, Sex or sexuality, Death or dying, AIDS, Terminal illness or terminally ill, Diseases, Morality or morals, Meditation, Aesthetics
The Poem
“The Man with Night Sweats” is one of a series of poems Thom Gunn has written about the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in general and friends of his who either have the disease or have already died of it. The title refers to the night sweats that are one of the symptoms frequently experienced by victims of the disease. This poem is the dramatic monologue of a persona afflicted with AIDS remembering and pondering his past life and the way in which he became ill. In the first stanza, the speaker awakens in the night, sweating; the sheet has become...
[The entire page is 1434 words long]
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