The poem starts by drawing your attention to the "dwarf" who is described as something that is not human and more puppet like than anything else. By calling him a dwarf it makes it clear he is seen as not normal. You are given a description of the figure, which I feel is meant to disturb you, with the repulsive description. The dwarf is described as having "hands on backwards" and "like a half filled sack". In the second line the alliteration of the letter 's' gives of a short sharp distaste sound. Also words that start with the letter 't' are used next to each other. "Tiny twisted" which makes a tut sound which is alliterate and harsh sounding.

On the third forth line it begins to describe the juxtaposition of the expensive church where the beggar to highlight the difference. It begins with the word "Outside" to emphasize where he is, as he should be inside the church, not outside. The focus swifts further along the line from the beggar to the church as the poet begins to des

Finally the last two lines go back to the beggar and St Francis, which is what the poem was meant to be about. His voice was seen as so graceful and delicate it was like when a bird "spoke to St Francis"

The last two lines are saying how the beggar had no advantages over St Francis. The only advantage he had was of him "not being dead yet." This shows he is lucky to be alive but had nothing else going for him.

The second paragraph shifts your attention to the priest and him explaining about the magnificent paintings in the church and how they tell the story of god. He told the tourist of how they can "reveal the illiterate the goodness of God and the suffering of his son". Basically the priest doesn't do his job but pretends to for the sake of the money being made from the tourists. The priest found out how the paintings could do his job for him, which is to teach about God, and he could get receive all the benefits. On the third line down we hear the poets speaking as he said he "understood" what the priest was saying. He himself is getting involved personally in the poem now. He understood what the priest was saying but could see right through him and see the truth. He understood

The third paragraph changes the focus again to the tourists now. He describes it as a "rush of tourists" which shows they were all in a hurry and nobod

Some common words found in the essay are:
St Francis, Norman MacCaig, , st francis, sympathy beggar, priest saying, word outside emphasize, st francis poem, understood priest saying, begins describe, beggar sitting, priest doing, dwarf described, sitting outside, francis poem, understood priest,
Approximate Word count = 907
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)