The Man with Night Sweats Flashcards
Who is the poet
Thom Gunn
What is the tone of the poem
Anxious, stressful, lonely
What is the structure of the poem
there are 8 stanzas and the first stanza has 4 lines and then the second has 2 line sand it alternates. There is rhyme which goes until the last two stanzas and then stopped.
What is the meaning behind the poem
It’s about a guy with AIDs and how he lives with them and how they make him feel which all shows his struggle.
What does “My flesh was it’s own shield” imply
That he is own his own and only has himself to protect him, it’s him against the AIDs.
Why does he feel alone
He is gay which the society didn’t accept so he was an outsider and had to help himself and hospitals didn’t want to help him because of his sexuality so he was on his own.
What does the metaphor about a shield mentioned multiple times mean
He talks about how he has to shield himself from everything and he is his own shield. His shield is breaking and not strong implying he is in pain and slowly falling apart and dying.
What does the contradiction of “cold” and “heat” convey
cold could imply he is lonely and has nobody around him while the heat could be his sickness and his nightmares/dreams which make him wake up all panicked and mentally exhausted.
