Siren Song

Siren Song
This is the one song everyone
would like to learn: the song
that is irresistible:
the song that forces men
to leap overboard in squadrons
even though they see the beached skulls
the song nobody knows
because anyone who has heard it
is dead, and the others can't remember
Shall I tell you the secret
and if I do, will you get me
out of this bird suit?
I don't enjoy it here
squatting on this island
looking picturesque and mythical
with these two feathery maniacs,
I don't enjoy singing
this trio, fatal and valuable.
I will tell the secret to you,
to you, only to you.
Come closer. This song
is a cry for help: Help me!
Only you, only you can,
you are unique

At last. Alas
it is a boring song
but it works every time.


In Margaret Atwood's poem, "Siren Sing" she uses a sarcastic tone to convey her her sinister and tempting message. Her poem is filled with a heavy feminist subtext, in which Atwood uses to exploits theses manipulative characteristics to seduce men. This poem is unique in its own nature because the speaker is talking on stereotypes that are represented by the myth of Sirens.

Typically, women are usually seen as passive, weak, helpless and yet dangerous to men trapping them in their kiddish seductive ways. This in terms is seen as ironic because its men compulsion to automatically act to be the hero and save, the women, which actually causes their own demises. The poem extends farther than its literal context. In a sense what the sirens represent is the poets and the sailors are the readers who are seduced by their message. In lines 4-5 it states," the song that forces men to leap overboard". Here the song is presented as a symbol of power which is used for the destruction of men.

Another ironic message in "Siren Song" is that she doesn't enjoy her song, which is evident when she says, "I don't enjoy singing this trio, fatal and valuable." All she like is the power behind it all which outweighs the boredom that she get from the song. The last two lines show how she feels about the song," by it being a boring song" " but it working every time" because of men temptations.