Assisi

“The dwarf with his hands on backwards sat, slumped like a half-filled sack on tiny twisted legs from which sawdust might run,”

The beggar is described as an inanimate object and compared to a puppet. This demonstrates that he is not considered equal or as important in society.

“from which sawdust might run” continues the metaphor of the beggar as a puppet or an inanimate object.

The simile “like a half-filled sack” and the word “slumped” suggests the beggar is defeated.

“three tiers of churches built in honour of St Francis”

Suggests ostentation and wealth. “In honour” tells the reader that the church was built for St Francis and not by him, which raises the question of whether he would be uncomfortable with the ostentation of the building and what is represents.

“brother of the poor”

This line links St Francis to the beggar, and aligns him with the poor as opposed to the wealth suggested by the grand over-the-top building.

“talker with birds”

This shows that St Francis was a kind and gentle person, (in contrast to the priest.)

“over whom he had the advantage of not being dead yet”

This suggests that the only part of the beggars life which is better than St Francis is that he is still alive. The beggar has no love, material goods or quality of life.

“A priest explained how clever it was”

This depicts the priest as patronising. He sees himself as superior to the tourists because he is able to tell them about Giotto’s frescoes.

This continues the idea that the priest is patronising. This introduces the idea of telling stories, as you would to a child, thus comparing the tourists to children.

“that would reveal to the illiterate”

Link between priest and Giotto. Both the illiterate and tourists both need to be “informed”

“I understood the explanation and the cleverness.”

“The speaker succinctly dismisses the expertise of the priest with this short sentence. He is offended by the obvious intellectual pride the priest demonstrates.

Stanza 2

The priest is seen as uncaring. He mentions nothing about the poor or needy and in fact says nothing about St Francis. He is self-important and his only concern is making himself look intelligent and important in front of the tourists. He embodies everything that is wrong with the Church - greed, ostentation, ignorance of the plight of the poor.

“the goodness of God and the suffering of His Son.”

The word choice of “Suffering” is ironic. The priest is talking about the suffering of jesus but is completely ignoring the suffering in front of him in the form of the beggar. The priest is more impressed with the depiction of these teachings than actually practising them himself.

“A rush of tourists”

Word choice of rush. The tourists are in such a hurry to see the church that they bypass and completely ignore the beggar outside. They are depicted as hypocritical, shallow and uncaring.

“he scattered the grain of the word”

The priest is allowing the tourists to appreciate the church and its beauty. This again demonstrates the priest’s patronising attitude and the stupidity of the tourists.

“A rush of tourists, clucking contentedly, fluttered after his as he scattered the grain of the Word.

This extended metaphor compares the tourists to chickens who are reliant of food from the farmer - they are an adoring audience and seek his approval and his words. They care only about the pretty buildings and paintings.

“It was they who had passed”

Accusatory, angry tone. MacCaig is angry that the tourists have ignored the beggar.

“whose eyes wept pus, whose back was higher than his head”

These lines evoke a feeling of sympathy in us, the reader, towards the beggar.

“whose lopsided mouth said Grazie in a voice as sweet as a child’s”

This shows that the beggar is innocent and childlike and further links him to the idea of St Francis and distances him from the corrupt hypocrisy of the church.

“or a bird’s when it spoke to St Francis”

Only the beggar is ever mentioned in conjunction with St Francis. Suggests he is the only truly Holy and worthy enough to be mentioned alongside the Saint. This also distances St Francis from the showiness of the church, the self-importance of the priest and the shallowness of the tourists. THis shows the beggar as St Francis’s true equal - a good person who cares for others and is good to them, and who does not patronise or look down on them.