Assisi

• "dwarf with his hands on backwards"?

  • Word Choice

  "dwarf" has connotations of disability and smallness, which immediately suggests the beggar’s physical appearance is striking and noticeable to the speaker, thereby making the reader feel sympathy from the outset.
• "tiny twisted legs"?

  • Word Choice

  "tiny twisted" has connotations of distortion and warped, which suggests the beggar’s legs are unable to support his body and that he is sitting at an awkward and painful angle. This also develops the reader’s sympathy.
• "outside"?

  • Word Choice

  "outside" has connotations of rejection and unwelcome, which suggests the beggar is exiled from the church and also ignored by society.
• "and the cleverness"?

  • Word Choice

  "cleverness" has connotations of intelligence or being smart, which suggests MacCaig realises that the church is slyly taking advantage by making lots of money from the fancy church. The tone is sarcastic and mocking.
• "Slumped ike a half-filled sack"?

  • Imagery

  Beggar -> a sack

  Just as a half-filled sack is lumpy and misshapen, so the beggar is hunched over and seems incomplete. This suggests his physical disabilities are significant and dehumanise him as he is being compared to an inanimate object.
• "the three tiers of churches"?

  • Imagery

  the church -> a wedding cake

  Just as a wedding cake is usually built in tiers and is fancy and extravagant, so the church is expensive and elaborate. This suggests that no expense has been spared in building this church. However, this goes against the legacy of St Francis and allows MacCaig to highlight the hypocrisy of the church - they are more interested in making money than helping those in need. 
• "a rush of tourists, clucking contentedly, fluttered after him"?

  • Imagery

  tourists -> chickens

  Just as chickens lack intelligence and have a herd mentality, so the tourists are mindlessly wandering around with the priest and not really paying attention. This suggests they are unable to see the irony or hypocrisy of the situation as, despite visiting St Francis’ church, they learn nothing about his values as they also ignore the beggar.  
• “Brother of the poor, talker with birds, over whom he had the advantage of not being dead yet”?

  • Rule of three

  The rule of three helps to build a picture of St Francis that contrasts with the church built in his honour to allow MacCaig to introduce a sense of irony. St Francis would have hated the church as he would rather the money was used to help those in need like the beggar outside
• “The suffering/ of His Son. I understood…”?

  • Enjambment

  The enjambment highlights the word choice “suffering” so MacCaig can draw attention to the fact there is suffering happening right in front of the priest yet he does nothing to help the beggar.
• “Whose eyes wept pus, whose back was higher than his head, whose lopsided mouth”?

  • Repetition / Enjambment

  The repetitive structure allows MacCaig to again remind the reader of the poor physical condition of the beggar and how he desperately needs help. The enjambment highlights the word choice of “wept” which has connotations of upset and pain and “pus” which has connotations of illness, emphasising the beggar is really sick and declining.