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Thomas Gunn powerfully explores the experience of being severely ill in "The Man With Night Sweats" through the use of language and structure in order to convey the speaker's sense of pain and despair. In Stanza 1, the speaker has just woken up from a dream of heat in which he "prospered through." However, when he wakes up he feels cold, which can have connotations of sadness and depression, so therefore this shows the reader that even when the speaker is confronted by reality, he becomes extremely sad. In this stanza, there is also juxtaposition between hot and cold as sweat can be an effect of being warm. The speaker appears physically warm yet he is also cold. This contrast could suggest the speaker's fragile and deteriorating mind as he is ultimately making no sense, so this therefore shows the reader that when you are severely ill your mind supplies a box with your body. Moreover, the contrast between hot and cold could also symbolize the contrast between the speaker's past and present self, and the speaker's present self. As cold could represent the present as he is ill and the idea of being hot could represent his past as being hot suggests someone who is vibrant and full of life. In stanza 2, the speaker continues to describe his former self which evokes sympathy for him as we as the readers feel as though he desperately wants his old life back. By referring to his flesh as "its own shield" it shows the strength the man once possessed a lot of Plus he said that "where it was gashed, it healed” which shows his strength as he always recovers no matter the injury. This powerfully explores the experience of being severely ill through the use of the past tense for example "was." This is because he conveys to the reader he no longer has these abilities which suggests that his illness has caused him to experience depression as he feels that he is now untalented and worthless creating the tone of despair. In Stanza 3 and 4 the speaker fully talks about his pasts as he said, "I explored and that I was once a world of wonders." This constant mention of the past conveys the fact that those who are severely ill often especially rely on the past to help them to escape the pain of the present day. These two stanzas are very ambiguous however I believe they are referring to the speaker discovering his sexual identity with the first line referring to his experience in the act of unprotected sex which then caused the speaker to get AIDS. Gunn purposely never mentions AIDS as he knew that many people will dismiss the poem due to homophobia. So his intention in showing the reader experiences of being severely ill was to try and get people to sympathise with the reader so therefore they may also sympathise with the gay community. The theme of worthlessness is further explored in Stanza 5 due to the repetition of the word "reduced." This emphasises that the reader feels worthless as reduced suggests he is nothing and that the illness has completely destroyed every part of him. This conveys the power of the illness but it also shows us that those who are ill often feel like they have lost their identity as they have been completely torn apart by the illness. Stanza 6 is a rhyming couplet and it shows further shows the pain of the man by showing his isolation as he states that "I have to change the bed" with this shows there is no-one to take care of him as the illness has caused people to abandon him. Furthermore he has to hug himself which suggests he needs human connections and attention but he only has himself to comfort him. This shows that people who are ill are as though they are separated from society and are often lonely. Furthermore Gunn explores the ideas of being weak as in the final stanza the image of the speaker's hands trying to hold off a huge 'avalanche' is shown. This large size difference shows us that the speaker knows he is going to die as the avalanche he won't be able to which shows that those who are ill often feel helpless as they know they are weak their strength is inferior to the disease. Finally the lines are short and concise suggesting that the reader feels as though he needs to contain his emotions.