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"The Man with Night Sweats" by Thom Gunn

“The Man with Night Sweats” written by Thom Gunn in 1992 is a poem that reflects the physical and emotional state of a man struggling with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. AIDS in America during the 1980 and 1990’s was extremely controversial. In 1982, the CDC suggested that AIDS was caused by gay-related sexual encounters. This made gays very socially unaccepted and even ostracized by their community.

“The Man with Night Sweats” primarily contrasted the the strong, masculine flesh of the speaker’s body in the past and his current weakened physical state due to AIDS. The man trusted his sexual choices and thought his body would be invincible. His body is immobilized by his own helplessness.

Gunn wrote about many gay topics but “The Man with Night Sweats” was by far his most popular. When the 1980s brought the AIDS epidemic to the gay community, Gunn lost many of his friends to the disease. The title gives reference to one of the physical symptoms of the disease, night sweats. Gunn restores poetry to a centrality it has often seemed close to losing, by dealing in the context of a specific human catastrophe with the great themes of life and death, coherently, intelligently, memorably. Gunn sheds light on the disease in a factual yet entertaining way. Although AIDS was his main focus, he remained HIV negative himself.

References:

"History of HIV and AIDS Overview | AVERT." History of HIV and AIDS Overview | AVERT. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

"Thom Gunn." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

Lambert, Bruce. "AIDS Rulings Help the Falsely Accused." The New York Times. The New York Times, 07 Nov. 1989. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.