What Is The Mood Of The Poem Assisi By Norman Maccaig?

ASSISI CRITICAL ESSAY

A poem which evokes a mood of pity in the reader is “Assisi” by Norman MacCaig. In this poem, MacCaig recounts an experience that shaped his own life while visiting the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi in Assisi, Italy. While the church is known for it’s outstanding beauty and priceless artwork, the poet discovers a beggar with severe physical disabilities begging outside the church. MacCaig then exposes the irony of the church constructed to celebrate a man devoted to poor, is now a symbol of hypocrisy. Instead of being a lasting monument to the original and noble philosophies of St Francis. Norman MacCaig evinces pity within us by effectively applying techniques such as vivid imagery, emotive word choice and contrast.

Firstly, the poet maintains the mood of pity by introducing the beggar as a dwarf, begging outside the church:
“The dwarf with his hands on backwards
Sat slumped like a half-filled sack
On tiny twisted legs from which
Sawdust might run”
MacCaig enforces us not to awe at the beauty and grandeur of the church, instead he wants us to think of a man who is described in some shocking unsentimental terms.

The word ‘slumped’ gives the idea of not having the strength to stand up, or of being in a decline; ’twisted’ suggests not functioning. The poet also makes this stanza stand out by conclusively using imagery ‘half-filled sack’ emphasizes what is not there for the man, what is missing for him. The beggar is described as an inanimate object and compared to almost a puppet like a sack of sawdust he isn’t human which makes him easier to ignore for instance the tourists and the priest. Just as a half-filled sack sags over and can’t support itself so the beggar is weak and can’t sit up straight. It shows how fragile the beggar

is.

Following this, MacCaig constructs a contrast with the lavishly built church:
“Outside the three tiers of churches built
In honor of St Francis”
The contrast is clear; the church is extended and full in size, the beggar outside is ‘half filled.’ MacCaig makes the connection between St Francis and the beggar. ‘three tiers’ suggests ostentation and wealth which makes the reader reminisce a wedding cake but, in this context, it seems inappropriate it also highlights that St. Francis wouldn’t be pleased if he would be present now.

In the second stanza, MacCaig curdles his attention to the famous paintings by Giotto on the wall of the Church of St Francis. He recounts on his visit; a priest explained the purpose of these paintings was to:
“A priest explained
How clever was it of Giotto
To make his frescoes tell stories
That would reveal to the illiterate the goodness”
The poet uses powerful word choice to convey his temper.

The word ‘illiterate’ is condescending term which suggests that the priest is arrogant. Norman MacCaig has an irony tone as the priest is well educated knows about art, but he can read it, write but priest doesn’t understand the goodness of god and the suffering of the son.
Finally, Norman MacCaig portrays the mood of pity significantly in the last stanza:
“A rush of tourists, clucking contentedly,
Fluttered after him as he scattered the grain of the word”
Norman MacCaig effectively uses word choice as the word ‘rush’ suggests the tourists are unconcerned, dimwitted. MacCaig continues to insult them effectively using imagery as ‘clucking’ compares them to chickens which in general are insipid farmyard birds the tourists are intrigued by what they hear from the priest. ‘contentedly’ describes the tourist’s delight in following the priest around. ‘The grain of the word’ is a biblical allusion which refers to the bible parable of sower the seed is the word of God, but it is not landing on fertile ground because neither the priest or the tourists understand God’s message. Hereby, MacCaig flourishes in creating a mood of pity with the

readers.

In conclusion, the use of word choice, contrast and imagery is what sets Assisi apart from other poems. Norman Mac Caig successfully utilizes these techniques to make the reader feel pity.