Plural of awake . It means that he is in vigilance, that he does not sleep. It can also mean attentive, sagacious, intelligent, cunning, alive.
AWAKE pl . from AWAKE 1 . Repl. and adj . Shrewd, intelligent, cunning, quick-minded person. 2 . v . Part . past the verb AWAKEN, WAKE UP, get out of sleep, stop sleeping.