Assisi Flashcards
“Dwarf”
Describing how small the beggar actually is.
“His hands on backwards”
Showing/describing how deformed the beggar is and how his hands are bent backwards.
“Sat slumped”
The beggar is bent over, “slumped”. Crushing his internal organs.
“Like a half filled sack”
Dehumanising the beggar by describing him as a sack.
“Tiny twisted legs”
Word choice- makes you feel pitiful.
The choice of words makes you think about what his legs actually look like.
“Sawdust might run”
Linked to “half filled sack”
What it would actually be like if he was a literal sack.
“Outside the three tiers of churches built in honour of St Francis”
Compared to the church, the beggar looks tiny.
Ironic as he is being ignored.
“Clucking contentedly”
MacCaig implies he disapproves of the “blind” ignorance and willingness to follow the priest’s every word.
“he’s ‘feeding’ them the grain of the word”
The tourists are being ignorant towards the beggar and listening to the priest’s every word and believing him instead.
“ruined temple”
Comparing the beggar to the temple, almost as if the beggar has been left unattended to become a ruin.
“eyes wept pus”
Makes you feel sympathy for the beggar, makes you feel more aggressive towards the tourists who are ignoring him.
“back was higher than his head”
Shows/describes how much pain he could actually be in. Indication of the severity of his state.
“lopsided mouth”
Describing his deformity in his face and how it isn’t perfect.
“voice as sweet as a child when she speaks to her mother”
Comparing the beggar to a small sweet girl.
Despite all the deformities of the beggar he is actually sweet and innocent which isn’t really expected.
“or a bird”
As calling as the sound of a birds song.
