Assisi Flashcards
“The dwarf with his hands on backwards”
Maccaigs use of word choice bluntly describes the disfigured body of the dwarf which suggests he is vulnerable, frail, weak and sick
“Tiny twisted legs”
The alliteration of the ‘t’ reinforces a sense of sympathy for the reader as it describes the dwarf as small and being unable to carry himself due to his legs.
“A priest explains how clever it was of Giotto”
The word choice of ‘clever’ highlights the hypocrisy of the church’and the difference between the priest and the tourists from the dwarf who is more a representative of the life of st Francis
“Reveal to the illiterate the goodness”
Maccaigs use of word choice of ‘illiterate” has connotations of uneducated and stupid and in this context suggests that the priest looks down on the poor
Clicking contentedly
The use of a metaphor is here to compare the tourists to chickens. Just as chickens are empty headed creatures so too the tourists are being described as dull minded as they are more focused on the look of the building instead of the history and what it represents
“The ruined temple outside”
MacCaig uses a metaphor to compare the dwarf to a building just as a building can be run down and destroyed so too the drafts body is disfigured, “outside” reinforces the exclusion of the dwarf.
“In a voice as sweet as a child’s”
Through the use of a simile, maccaig coveys the dwarfs kindness, purity and innocence which is in contrast with the priests self importance which highlights the hypocrisy of the priest.
“A bird when it spoke to st Francis”
The poem returns to the values represented by st Francis. This highlights that the dwarf is still humble despite his physical limitations and is more like st Francis in nature which highlights the hypocrisy of the priest and tourists.
