"Symbiosis or Death": - Rhodes University

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position. Wilson defines biophilia as “the innately emotional affiliation of human
beings to other living organisms” (165) and argues that it is essential:
The significance of biophilia in human biology is potentially profound, even if it
exists solely as weak learning rules. It is relevant to our thinking about nature,
about the landscape, the arts and mythopoeia, and it invites us to take a new look
at environmental ethics. (166)
Wilson’s admission of the weakness of these “learning rules” points to the idealistic
nature of this position. He is also the proponent of sociobiology which argues that culture
is created and shaped by biological processes while the biological processes are
simultaneously altered in response to cultural change (11). Sociobiology has since largely
been discredited, but Livingstone’s conclusion to his academic paper titled “Sociobiology
and Fitness Maximisation” is still pertinent: “For too many decades the reductionist mode
has prevailed: we have been scientifically concentrating almost exclusively upon the cell
at the expense of ecologies. It is to be hoped that sociobiology can offer some
contribution to the redress of this balance” (1983: 5).
The above poems which depict ecological equilibrium use the pastoral in
Sjambok; an eccentric or new way of looking at the city in Eyes Closed; the power of
love in A Rosary of Bone; and the science-religion tension in The Anvil’s Undertone.
Livingstone’s view becomes more sophisticated over time, moving from the conventional
use of the pastoral to reflect the ideal of humankind in harmony with nature in his second
collection, to a more realistic grappling with the creative force behind the universe in his
fifth collection. I have offered detailed analyses of most of the poems which portray
ecological equilibrium. The few others which explore this theme are: “The Hungry
Heart” (from Sjambok 40) which depicts the speaker’s pure appreciation of nature for its
own sake and his yearning for the spiritual sustenance which an instinctual relationship
with nature would bring; and the following poems from Eyes Closed Against the Sun : “A
Flower for the Night” (14), “The Sleep of My Lions” (17) and “Drinking Wine” (43).
(See p 65 and p 66 for a fuller discussion of the latter two poems.) “Crystallogenesis”
(from A Rosary of Bone 14) also depicts ecological equilibrium. Narismulu concludes her
thesis with a review of what constitutes ‘truth’ amongst contemporary thinkers and
physicists and makes repeated reference to Livingstone’s article “Science and Truth”. She
then states that “‘Crystallogenesis’ … may well constitute the poet’s manifesto” (163)
and quotes the following lines from the poem: