The Man with Night Sweats

Question 1

What is the main theme of the poem? (The Man with Night Sweats)

Answer 1

The poem is an AIDS elegy depicting the painful and isolating experience of a man with severe symptoms.

Question 2

Paragraph 1? (The Man with Night Sweats)

Answer 2

Gunn vividly expresses the physical discomfort caused by his condition and compares his current situation to that of the past

Question 3

Quotes for paragraph 1? (The Man with Night Sweats)

Answer 3

‘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’

Question 4

Paragraph 2? (The Man with Night Sweats)

Answer 4

The poet then focuses on his past strength and moments of pleasure, creating a stark contrast between the good of the past but the pain that it has caused

Question 5

Quotes for paragraph 2? (The Man with Night Sweats)

Answer 5

‘i grew as i explored the body i could trust’
‘i adored the risk that made robust’
‘a world of wonders in each challenge to the skin’

Question 6

Paragraph 3? (The Man with Night Sweats)

Answer 6

Gunn finishes the poem with a focus back to his deep discomfort, particularly focusing on his isolation, explained by the taboo of AIDS at the time

Question 7

Quotes for paragraph 3? (The Man with Night Sweats)

Answer 7

‘the given shield was cracked//my mind reduced to hurry, my flesh reduced and wrecked’
‘i have to change the bed, but catch myself instead’
‘hugging my body to me as if to shield it from the pains’

Question 8

‘as if hands were enough to hold an avalanche off’