The poet cleverly highlights the dilemma of the beggar by contrasting the physical appearance of the dwarf with that of the Church. This contrast shows that the Church, especially the priests, is showing an uncaring attitude to help their fellow man. In stanza three, the beggar is said to be a "ruined temple" and the Church is very different, it has "three tiers". This very strong contrast makes the reader acutely aware of the irony of the situation. The beggar is being rejected and ignored by the Church and Saint Francis, himself, would be very disappointed that our modern Churches are failing to fully represent the true spirit of his church. The irony of the situation is that the beggar is sitting outside this particular church, built in honour of the patron saint of the poor, Saint Francis and yet the deliverers of the Good News are still rejecting the dwarf. .
The poet has a great suppressed anger throughout "Assisi" and he is unable to accept the way the human race is failing to deal with people who are in need of help. In the end of every stanza he adds a wry twist - the dwarf has the "advantage" over Saint Francis, "of not being dead yet". Yet look how he is described. Does he sound alive? In the following stanza MacCaig understands the "explanation" and the "cleverness" but do the priests understand the "goodness of God and the suffering of his Son." And finally in the last stanza the closing images are that of a child speaking to it's mother or a bird when it spoke to Saint Francis and these two images bring associations of innocence, mutual love, trust, and independence. Are these quite the right terms for the beggar's relationship with the tourists? The dwarf says "Gratzi" but only when he receives and donating money to those in need satisfies the tourists, just because they are visiting a monument. The message of Saint Francis is again not being represented. His messages were about the brotherhood of all living beings, but MacCaig can see little evidence of this.
In the last stanza MacCaig concentrates on drawing our attention to the contrast between what Saint Francis represented and what his church has become. It is "unpriestly" for the "tourist guide" to ignore his duties of caring for the poor and sick, while the frescoes of Giotto, which were originally intended to reveal to the illiterate the Word of God, have become a tourist attraction seen only by those who can afford to pay. MacCaig paints a very clear picture of these tourists. He compares them to hens "clucking contentedly" whilst "fluttering" after the priest who is scattering the "grain of the Word". The poet's message is evident, both the Church and tourists need their eyes opened to the suffering, which is happening around them.
In the final few lines of then poem, the poet reveals a completely different picture of the dwarf from an ugly, deformed human being. The poet observes that when the beggar says "Gratzi", his voice is as sweet:
As a child's when she spoke to her mother, Or a bird when it spoke to Saint Francis.
MacCaig thus exposes the inner beauty of the beggar, which is normally masked by his own outer ugliness and deformity. But we are only aware of his inner sweetness when the beggar says "thank you" and he only says that when someone is kind to him.
It is this surreal and ironic ending which makes "Assisi" such a clever poem.
In conclusion, I feel "Assisi" has opened my eyes to see the suffering that is happening all around the world. It was an extremely engrossing poem and I hope to read more of Norman MacCaig's work.
