1. Norman MacCaig

3.  Saint Francis is called the little poor man of Assisi. He was born in the year 1182 in the town of Assisi in Italy. His father's name was Bernadone, and he was a very wealthy merchant of Assisi. Francis was a very good-looking boy and had many friends. All the noble men's sons were his companions.  Francis was brought up in luxury and spent a considerable portion of his wealth in extravagant pleasures. He used to drink with the young princes of the land.  One day Francis was joking and laughing with his friends. A beggar came along crying for alms. Francis, who was soft-hearted, gave whatever he had in his pocket to the beggar.  His companions mocked him for his charitable act but the sight of the beggar set him thinking about the poverty and misery of his mundane life. He gave much money to the poor.

4.  His father thought that Francis was wasting his money and rebuked him.  Sometime after this, Francis was laid up in bed for many months on account of some serious disease. He was about to die and with this event the nature of Francis was entirely changed. Francis prayed to the Lord for light and guidance as to his future, had a vision of Jesus and formed a strong determination to renounce his old way of living to tread a life of purity and to dedicate his life to the service of humanity.  As soon as Francis got well, he informed his parents of his determination. They were disappointed and angry. Francis gave up his old ways and habits and set up to serve God.  He distributed clothes, goods and money to the poor. His father was very much annoyed and is reputed to have said, "Is this the gratitude you show to me ? I laboured hard and amassed wealth. You are lavishly wasting it on these miserable wretches".

5.  Francis' friends mocked at him and teased him and father turned him out of the house.  Francis lived like a beggar. His old friends even pelted him with stones and mud. He bore everything with patience.  He wore a coarse dress and ate simple food living in a cave in the mountains of Assisi and spent his time in prayer and meditation for two years. Some kind people gave him food, but very often he had to starve.  He loved birds and beasts. He loved the depressed and the outcastes. He treated the birds, the beasts and all beings as brothers and sisters.  Francis went from village to village preaching the love of God. He invited people to join him in his life of service if they were willing. Bernard, a rich man of Assisi, was very much attracted by the saintliness of Francis. He joined him and was the first follower of Francis. He placed all his wealth at the altar of God.

6.  Eleven others also joined Francis. They distributed all their wealth to the poor. Francis and his followers went all over Italy preaching, teaching, healing and blessing wherever they went. The gospel of kindness and love of Francis soon spread all over Europe and earned for him the name of St. Francis.  People called him the little poor man of Assisi but St. Francis collected many followers and founded the Order of Mendicant Friars or Franciscans. The members of this Order have to take a vow of poverty, chastity, love and obedience. Francis died in 1228.The followers of St. Francis built a beautiful church round him on the hill of Assisi, the hill he so dearly loved.

8.  Before we explore Norman MacCaig's poem called 'Assisi', we'll listen, briefly, to his thoughts on poetry.  Minute 5 min 40 : how he writes poetry........ This is how he wrote 'Assisi'  Minute 13: What he thinks of how to study his poems.

9.  In Assisi there are three churches next to each other, one built higher than the next.  Frescoes are paintings on walls. In churches they usually depict scenes from the bible.  Giotto was a famous Italian painter.  Grazie means thank you in Italian  In religious language the body is compared to a temple because it contains our soul just as a real temple contains the spirit of God.

11. The dwarf with his hands on backwards sat, slumped like a half-filled sack on tiny twisted legs from which sawdust might run, outside the three tiers of churches built in honour of St Francis, brother of the poor, talker with birds, over whom he had the advantage of not being dead yet. A priest explained how clever it was of Giotto to make his frescoes tell stories that would reveal to the illiterate the goodness of God and the suffering of His Son. I understood the explanation and the cleverness. A rush of tourists, clucking contentedly, fluttered after him as he scattered the grain of the Word. It was they who had passed the ruined temple outside, whose eyes wept pus, whose back was higher than his head, whose lopsided mouth said Grazie in a voice as sweet as a child's when she speaks to her mother or a bird's when it spoke to St Francis.

12. What’s going on here? What makes you say that?

13. Look at the poem as a whole.  Discuss and make note of your opinions/observations/suggestions on the poem’s intention.  Identify four pieces of evidence that support your views.

14.  IDEAS - Place these ideas next to the relevant stanza on your A3 poem. You will need to cut out and glue the paper appropriately.

16.  Hypocrisy  Corruption  Ignorance

17. Each group will be given a section of the poem. On your flipchart paper, you must:  Annotate your section of the poem  Identify different techniques  Analyse key quotations  Give personal response to the poem  Identify themes  Evaluate how success the writer has been in conveying his point of view

18. You will then move round the room, read over what been written and add this analysis to your own poem as well as any other ideas/interpretations that come to you.

19. Identify the skills you have used in these initial poetry lessons and how you can apply them to other parts of the course.