1. Kelso High School
English Department

2. ‘Assisi’ by Norman MacCaig

3. Where is Assisi?

4. Basilica of St Francis, Assisi

5. Upper Church

6. Lower Church

7. Who was St Francis?

8. St Francis Born at Assisi in Umbria, in 1181.
He was the son of a rich merchant.
After a care-free youth of fine clothes, partying and brawling, he turned his back on inherited wealth and committed himself to God.
He then lived a very simple life of poverty. He gave up his shoes and fine clothes and became like the people he wanted to serve. He begged, preached and built shelters and places of worship for the poor.

9. St Francis He is known for following Jesus’s
example and helping the poor
and outcast. He showed that every living
creature, no matter how insignificant is worthy
of compassion.
He led a group of followers which became the Franciscan order of monks which still exists today and who dedicate their lives to helping the poor.

10. Franciscan Monks

11. St Francis
People with the contagious nerve/skin disease leprosy (which caused disfigurement and loss of limbs) were outcasts from society. People would not touch lepers. Francis looked after them.

12. The Poem Situation Themes
MacCaig observes a deformed beggar outside the Church of St Francis in the Italian town of Assisi. The beggar is ignored by the priest and tourists who are being shown Giotto’s famous frescoes.
Themes
The hypocrisy of the Church – basilica originally built to celebrate a man devoted to the poor, but now it has become celebrated for its architectural merit and the priceless frescoes by the artist Giotto which are housed within it.
The plight/isolation of the disabled.
Rich v. poor/social injustice.
The apathy of society towards the less fortunate.

13. Stanza One The dwarf with his hands on backwards
sat, slumped like a half-filled sack
on tiny twisted legs from which
sawdust might run,
outside the three tiers of churches built
in honour of St Francis, brother
of the poor, talker with birds, over whom
he had the advantage
of not being dead yet.

14. The dwarf with his hands on backwards
‘Assisi’ - STANZA 1
The dwarf with his hands on backwards
sat, slumped like a half-filled sack
on tiny twisted legs from which
sawdust might run,
outside the three tiers of churches built
in honour of St Francis, brother
of the poor, talker with birds, over whom
he had the advantage
of not being dead yet.
Description of beggar in negative terms
Contrast with grand church and gentle saint
Juxtaposition

15. The dwarf with his hands on backwards
‘Assisi’ - STANZA 1
The dwarf with his hands on backwards
sat, slumped like a half-filled sack
on tiny twisted legs from which
sawdust might run,
WORD CHOICE: ‘dwarf’
IMAGERY / TONE : ‘hands on backwards’
ONOMATOPOEIA: ‘sat, slumped’
SIMILE: ‘like a half-filled sack’
ALLITERATION: ‘tiny twisted legs’
METAPHOR: ‘from which sawdust might run’
SOUNDS ‘s’ / ‘t’

16. Effect / Purpose of lines 1-4
Effect - dehumanises the beggar
Purpose – to shock readers into a reaction. Are we, like the tourists in the poem, apathetic to plight of the poor and disabled?
MacCaig verbally thrusts the disabled beggar in our faces defying us to withhold our pity.

17. ‘Assisi’ - STANZA 1 lines 5-9
outside the three tiers of churches built
in honour of St Francis, brother
of the poor, talker with birds, over whom
he had the advantage
of not being dead yet.
Alliteration / Contrast : ‘three tiers of churches’
Irony / Contrast: ‘in honour of St Francis, brother of the poor’
Tone: (sarcasm) ‘over whom / he had the advantage / of not being dead yet’
Positioning: ‘yet

18. Stanza One - Juxtaposition
Bringing two ideas (usually contrast) together for effect.
Grotesquely disabled beggar placed outside architecturally elaborate and beautiful church.
Highlights incongruity that such an architecturally complex building is used to honour a priest with such simple tastes.
Contrast between what St Francis represented and how the church now chooses to honour him.
Criticises the church which will spend a lot of money on lavish buildings, but give nothing to the poor.

19. Stanza Two lines 10-17
Moves inside the church where the priest, who is acting more as a tour guide is showing the aesthetic beauty of the church and showing the paintings depicting the word of God.

20. Stanza Two
A priest explained how clever it was of Giotto to make his frescoes tell stories that would reveal to the illiterate the goodness of God and the suffering Of His Son. I understood the explanation and the cleverness.

21. Negative Characterisation of the Priest
Proud – shows off his church and its valuable paintings
Superior / Pompous – ‘that would reveal to the illiterate’ - TONE / WORD CHOICE – Priest regards illiterate as inferior to himself
Condescending – TONE / WORD CHOICE – ‘how clever it was of Giotto’. Suggestion that he is almost giving Giotto a pat on the head, as if the priest is superior to Giotto.
Commercial / materialistic – acting as some kind of tour guide. No doubt collecting tips when he should be more spiritually inclined.

22. Negative Characterisation of the Priest
Self-indulgent – more interested in aesthetic quality of the paintings than in pastoral duties.
Hypocritical – talks about the ‘goodness of God and the suffering of His Son’, but ignores real human suffering which he should be trying to alleviate himself as well as bringing it to the notice of the people he is instructing.

23. Cliché – lost all meaning
Stanza 2, lines 10-17
A priest explained how clever it was of Giotto to make his frescoes tell stories that would reveal to the illiterate the goodness of God and the suffering of His Son. I understood the explanation and the cleverness.
Enjambment
Cliché – lost all meaning
Cynical/critical/unimpressed - portraying superficial message but ignoring the need for charity.

24. Stanza Two lines 10-17
A priest explained how clever it was of Giotto to make his frescoes tell stories that would reveal to the illiterate the goodness of God and the suffering Of His Son. I understood the explanation and the cleverness.
Tone : ‘I understood / the explanation and/ the cleverness
Punctuation: full stop after Son.
Positioning / Ambiguity : ‘cleverness’
Irony: whole stanza

25. Stanza 3 Introduction of the tourists.
Priest continues to show the crowd around. They ignore the beggar.
Further brutal description of beggar – list of deformities. Anti-climax – surprising description of beggar’s voice which is “sweet” and “gentle”.

26. Stanza 3, lines 18-27 the ruined temple outside, whose eyes
A rush of tourists, clucking contentedly,
fluttered after him as he scattered
the grain of the Word. It was they who had passed
the ruined temple outside, whose eyes
wept pus, whose back was higher
than his head, whose lopsided mouth
said Grazie in a voice as sweet
as a child’s when she speaks to her mother
or a bird’s when it spoke
to St Francis.

27. Stanza 3
A rush of tourists, clucking contentedly, fluttered after him as he scattered the grain of the Word.
lines extended metaphor
Absentmindedly following -
Not understanding message - highlights the hypocrisy of the church and apathy of society to the poor and disabled.
Attitude towards priest and tourists - Unfavourable/ disapproving.
More interested in looking like good Christians than actually being one.

28. Stanza 3 grain of the Word. It was they who had passed
the ruined temple outside, whose eyes
wept pus, whose back was higher
than his head, whose lopsided mouth
Juxtaposition: ‘passed’
Word Choice: ‘It was they’
Metaphor / Irony : ‘Ruined temple’
Imagery: ‘ whose back was higher/ than his head’
Tone: ‘whose eyes…lopsided mouth’
Religious allusions

29. Anti Climax-emphasise inner beauty/contrast with appearance
Stanza 3
Anti Climax-emphasise inner beauty/contrast with appearance
said Grazie in a voice as sweet
as a child’s when she speaks to her mother
or a bird’s when it spoke
to St Francis.
Innocence
Final line is a reference to St Francis which drives home the poet’s message and condemnation of those who ignore his preaching in favour of admiring physical beauty.

30. Stanza 3 said Grazie in a voice as sweet
Simile
said Grazie in a voice as sweet
as a child’s when she speaks to her mother
or a bird’s when it spoke
to St Francis.
Irony: ‘Grazie’
Simile: ‘As sweet as a child’s’
Final two lines: ‘Or a bird’s when it spoke/ to St Francis’

31. Form and Structure Three distinct stanzas
Stanza 1: speaker introduces us to dwarf begging outside the basilica
Stanza 2: focuses on priest who is acting as a tour guide
Stanza 3: examines the tourists’ reaction to the dwarf

32. Form and Structure
Each stanza begins with introduction of one character / character group:
1. emphasises the lack of any
real contact between them
2. emphasises isolation of the beggar

33. Form and Structure Poem begins and ends with beggar – brutal
language at start, sweetness emphasised
at end.
Poem returns at end to St Francis to remind us of ironic position of beggar and to instensify MacCaig’s criticism of a priest and a religion that place more value on fine buildings and valuable paintings than on the well-being of its parishioners.

34. Juxtaposition
1. Grotesquely disabled beggar placed outside elaborate and beautiful church.
2. Tourists walk past beggar to view frescoes
which depict suffering of Christ, whilst
ignoring the real suffering of the beggar.

35. Contrast
Between ugly deformed beggar and elaborate church he is sitting in front of.
Between actions of St Francis and the actions of religious people in the modern world.
Contrast between what the priest preaches and what he practices.
Contrast between dwarf’s appearance and reality.

36. Irony
Contrast between what might be expected to happen and what does happen.
Instead of administering to the poor of his parish, the priest acts like a tour guide.
The Church is dedicated to St Francis ‘brother / of the poor’, yet a beggar sitting outside it is ignored.

37. Form and Structure Free verse
Irregular stanzas creates a conversational style
Language is deliberately unsophisticated – makes poem more accessible.

38. Attitude of MacCaig Compassion towards beggar
Angry at the way people in general neglect needy members of our society
Anger at fact that Church does not appear to help those who need it most

39. Theme: Homework The hypocrisy of the Church.
The plight/isolation of the disabled.
Rich v. poor/social injustice.
The apathy of society towards the less fortunate.