"Symbiosis or Death": - Rhodes University

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And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had
corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is
come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I
will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6: 12-13)
There are corresponding Babylonian, Indian, Chinese, Burmese, New Guinean and native
North and South American deluge stories (Brewer 310-11). The story of the flood is also
found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Ted Hughes’ version ends with “Drowned mankind,
imploring limbs outspread, / Floats like a plague of dead frogs” (23).
In Livingstone’s modern rendition of the myth, humans are not wiped out by the
flood. His is a minor natural disaster which can be put right by the bulldozers. But, until
the bulldozers move in, the stinking mess on the beach is “Bad for the tourists” (line 9)
and there will be a loss of revenue. This subtly mocks the modern preoccupation with
money and shows how humanity has become estranged from nature. The flood is seen
primarily as an inconvenience. The bantam, which dominates the remaining three stanzas
of the poem, raucously crows out his outrage and in doing so reminds us of the power of
nature.
The ecological message of this poem lies in the juxtaposition of the power of
nature and the puniness of man. Nature’s workings contain “too much / inexorability”
(lines 19-20) for humankind to rest easily in “a straight All Clear” (line 20). Even though
we think we can bulldoze nature back into submission, we are mistaken. Through the
flood, or natural disaster, we are made aware of our tenuous position. Livingstone uses
the voice, or crowing, of the bantam to prompt his readers into awareness. The crow of
the cock traditionally announces the new day. In this poem the bantam announces a new
start, signified by survival of the flood. This demands “thanksgiving” (line 24). But, says
Livingstone through the voice of chanticleer, we do not realise just how lucky we are to
still be alive. We no longer trust “planets” or the Earth – are too distanced from nature to
appreciate her power and workings – and yet life still triumphs. Humanity continues to
live on the Earth, even though it is “no longer trusted” or acknowledged as a life-support
system. Because this ecological message is delivered in the voice of the bantam we are
tempted not to take it seriously. The tone of the final three stanzas is both humorous and
ridiculous. But it changes to deeply serious in the final lines of the poem. The reader has
to confront the bantam’s “rage”(line 21) and face his crowing “challenge” (line 23). Why
is his rage “writ too large”? Is he merely angry at the devastation caused by the flood, or