The poem Assisi by Norman MacCaig is a poem I have read which I enjoyed and which I think made an important social comment.

Authors Avatar

Assisi

The poem “Assisi” by Norman MacCaig is a poem I have read which I enjoyed and which I think made an important social comment.  The comment is that even today beside the glittering towers of civilisation, great riches exist beside great poverty.

“Assisi” starts off with a vividly described beggar slumped against a church in Assisi.  A priest is leading a group of rich tourist around the church showing them and explaining to them the magnificence of Giotto’s Frescoes.

The tourists following the priest are compared to chickens and the priest is shown as a farmer scattering the food for the chickens.  The tourists exit the church and give a few Lira to the beggar.

There are several uses of contrast in the poem, the most prominent among them being the comparison between the dwarf and the magnificent churches of St Francis.  The dwarf is called a

Join now!

“ruined temple”

while he is slumped against the wall of

“three tiers of churches”

This is an insightful juxtaposition because it sows how poverty is always right next to great riches which is the social comment the poet is trying to make.

The first description of the dwarf in Stanza 1 uses brutal language to highlight how extreme the poverty is in the area around the church.

The poet uses similes, alliteration and onomatopoeia to make his point with saying such as

“with his hands on backwards”

He compared the dwarf with an old soft toy leaking its ...

This is a preview of the whole essay