The Weaver Bird Poem Line by Line Analysis, Themes, Questions and Answers

The Weaver Bird Poem

The weaver bird built in our house
And laid it’s egg  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
It’s sermon in 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 

Weaver Bird Poem (Line 1-5 Analysis )

The weaver bird built in our house
And laid it’s egg  on our only tree
We did not want to send it away
We watched the building of the nest 
And supervised the egg – laying

The poet in first 5 lines talks about the weaver bird and its nest building. The weaver bird builds it’s nest in the speaker’s house . Also the bird lays egg in the only tree of the speaker. Here the “weaver bird ” should be understood as “the Europeans ” and “the nest” should be understood as “the mother land of Africa ” .

The Europeans came to Africa and the speaker and his people welcomed them with great hospitality. The speaker and his people did not send the Europeans back to thier land because they were guest for that time . Also , the Europeans started building infrastructure for thier comfort . And tried to expand as far as they could .

Weaver Bird Poem (Line 6- 11 Analysis)  

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
It’s sermon in the divination of ourselves

In these lines , the poet tells that the weaver bird started claiming the ownership of the speaker’s house. It means the Europeans started to capture the mother land of Africa slowly and slowly. They knew the potential of the natural resources found in Africa. So to rule the people and change thier thought , the Europeans started spreading thier religious sermons. They used religion as a tool to change the mind of African people .

The Europeans came from West and the speaker and thier people had welcomed them with warm hospitality. The Europeans influenced most of the African people by the messages written in thier religious book . Also , some innocent Africans followed them.

Weaver Bird Poem (Line 12-16 Analysis)  

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

According to poet , although the Europeans tried their best to influence the innocent Africans, they won’t follow the westerners. Africans want to limit thier horizon to thier nest ( mother land) only . They don’t want to join the prayers and answers of the communicants. They don’t want to join the weaver bird’s sermon and prayer.

In the last three lines , it is said that the Africans lost thier own old shrines where they used to worship thier own god. The Europeans destroyed thier old shrines and old beliefs . The speaker and his countrymen want to rebuild the destroyed religious structures again. They want to regain thier lost shrines and beliefs towards thier god. Also the speaker and his people are in search of new homes and new life.

Theme of Weaver Bird Poem

The poet here tells us how the Europeans took over Africa. The Europeans used the religion to rule the African people . They also destroyed the culture and the religious practices of Africa. They suppressed the African people in many ways.

The Europeans built many churches and preached the gospel of their god. Due to this many Africans were influenced and lost thier own traditional religion. The poet in the last, calls the African people to work again to rebuild thier own religion and culture.

Also read: Mama is a Sunrise by Evelyn Tooley

About the Poet of The Weaver Bird Poem

The writer of this poem is Kofi Awoonor. He is a Ghanaian poet , author and Diplomat. He was born on 13 March 1935 , Wheta, gold coast , Ghana. He died on 21 September, 2013 due to attack in the Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi.He is well known for his literary works . He has written many poems like The Cathedral, Across a New Dawn, A Call, Lament of the Silent Sister and many more.

FAQs