Commentary and Analysis of The Weaver Bird By Kofi Awoonor
This write up will take you through the stanza by stanza analysis and commentary of the poem titled, The Weaver Bird by Kofi Awoonor. This poem is one of the general literature books used by Senior high schools students.
What You Can Get Here
Commentary: The Weaver Bird – Stanza three
The Poem: The Weaver Bird by Kofi Awoonor
Lists of Literature books used by SHS students
Find below the 20 SHS General Literature Questions
The answers to the multiple-choice questions
SHS General Literature: A detailed analysis of Nightfall in Soweto by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali
The late Ghanaian poet Kofi Awonoor penned a post-colonial poem titled “The Weaver Bird.” The weaver bird is used as a metaphor for the entrance of colonists in Africa. The language is simple, but it effectively conveys a deeper message. It depicts both the invasion by the colonizers and the suffering of the colonized people.
They were left with nothing once the colonizer established itself on the African continent, as indicated by expressions like “And lay its eggs on our only tree” and “ancient temples soiled by the weaver’s dung.” The word “excrement” demonstrates how bitter and resentful Africans are toward the Western ways that are being forced upon them as being superior.
Ghanaian poet and author Kofi Awoonor used modern and religious symbolism with the lyrical traditions of his own Ewe people to depict Africa during freedom. He started writing under the pen name George Awoonor-Williams in addition to publishing under the name Kofi Nyidevu Awoonor.
He taught African literature at the University of Ghana. Professor Awoonor perished in the attack at the Westgate retail mall in September 2013 while visiting the Storymoja Hay Festival in Nairobi, Kenya.
Stanza 1 Of The Weaver Bird
The weaver bird built in our house
And laid its eggs on our only tree.
We did not want to send it away.
We watched the building of the nest
And supervised the egg-laying.
Commentary on stanza one
The weaver bird makes its nest on the speaker’s tree, the poet informs us at the beginning of the poem. It makes sense that the speaker’s only tree represents Africa and the weaver bird represents the European people. We get a sense of the unexpected presence of Europeans on the African continent in the first few words.
The poem highlights the naivety of Africans and how welcoming they were to the weaver bird during its initial visit. Africans went so far as to put their sole house at risk in order to make room for the weaver bird, who felt so at home making this nest.
In other words, Africans still see the construction of the European establishment without objecting because they did this just to demonstrate their hospitality to the weaver bird. They also watch the egg-laying process.
Stanza 2 of The Weaver Bird
And the weaver returned in the guise of the owner.
Preaching salvation to us that owned the house.
They say it came from the west
Where the storms at sea had felled the gulls
And the fishers dried their nets by lantern light.
Its sermon is the divination of ourselves
And our new horizon limits at its nest.
Commentary on Stanza two
The weaver bird began claiming possession of the African territories once he felt secure. This stanza’s opening line brings to mind the time when Europeans were conducting numerous excursions in pursuit of priceless resources. It emphasizes the fact that these Europeans came to Africa after finding what they were looking for there. They continued to present themselves as the owner to the African People prior to salvation.
It follows that the Europeans use religion to subjugate Africans as a race and seize control of their territories and resources. The poet then highlights the weaver bird once again, emphasizing how it may use messages from its book to preach the gospel, introduce the notion of salvation to Africans, and even foresee the destiny of African lives.
The last line of this verse illustrates the boundaries of the Africans’ expanded horizon, i.e., that they have encountered a new civilization, and their subsequent encounters are only constrained by the rules and customs established by these Europeans. This verse illustrates the dual nature of Europeans, who pose as worldly prophets before eventually revealing their true intentions: to dominate mother Africa.
Stanza three
But we cannot join the prayers and answers of the communicants.
We look for new homes every day,
For new altars we strive to rebuild
The old shrines defiled by the weaver’s excrement.
Commentary: The Weaver Bird – Stanza three
The African people in this situation have completely rejected the will of the Europeans. In this verse, the Africans express their resentment and fury toward the Europeans’ ways because they find it difficult to relate to their messages of salvation and peace. They view the weaver bird’s simultaneous preaching of two contradictory themes as hypocritical.
As a result, they are unable to participate in the communicants’ prayers and responses. At the poem’s conclusion, a speaker goes into greater detail about the conflict that the modern African has when faced with both European religion and traditional African religion. Africans continue to look for new homes every day after the Europeans claimed their one new residence.
The poem’s concluding words underline how the impact of the weaver bird led to modern society’s rejection of traditional African religion. The creation of the African shrines is credited by the weaver to the establishment of schools, churches, and other European institutions.
Even though the Europeans have desecrated the Africans’ shrines, they will not stop looking for new places to live and building new altars. In this last phrase, the poet offers Africans a message of hope. He asserts that Africans are unable to create new altars because they continue to make room on their stage for abandoned shrines.
The Poem: The Weaver Bird by Kofi Awoonor
The weaver bird built in our house
And laid its eggs on our only tree.
We did not want to send it away.
We watched the building of the nest
And supervised the egg-laying.
And the weaver returned in the guise of the owner.
Preaching salvation to us that owned the house.
They say it came from the west
Where the storms at sea had felled the gulls
And the fishers dried their nets by lantern light.
Its sermon is the divination of ourselves
And our new horizon limits at its nest.
But we cannot join the prayers and answers of the communicants.
We look for new homes every day,
For new altars we strive to rebuild
The old shrines defiled by the weaver’s excrement.
SHS General Literature: A detailed Analysis of Nightfall in Soweto by Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali
SHS General Literature: Nightfall In Soweto Questions – Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali
SHS General Literature Books: List of Literature Books for Senior High
DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational purposes only and learnritehere does not own any form of right or title of this poem, it remains the sole property of the poet.
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