“Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood 1/10/12

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 beached skulls

the song nobody knows
because anyone who had 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.

REACTION: My first reaction is that this song is about the mythological sirens that would lure in human males. The way it is written leads the reader to believe that this is the song the sirens would sing to attract males. It states in the beginning that no man who has ever heard the song and survived or remembered. This foreshadows a demise of the listener at the end. I find this poem very comical. It turns the imminent doom of a male suitor into a comical, alluring song.

PARAPHRASE:  Everyone wants to learn this irresistible song; they just want to hear it. Other men who have heard it jump in the sea even though they can see the people who have died doing so. No one knows this song. Everyone who has heard it is either dead or cannot remember. Can I tell you a secret? Will you help me get away? I don’t like it here on this island. I don’t like the vanity of this trio, singing just to kill. I can only trust you with this secret. Come closer, please; I need you. Only you can help me. You are special—this boring song works every time.

SWIFTT:                                                                                                                                                               

-SW: This poem contains six stanzas and seven sentences. The author uses very complex sentences at first. The first sentence spans across three stanzas explaining that this poem is, in fact, a song.  When the siren beings to lure in the listener. As the siren draws the listener in more, the sentences get shorter, adding suspense. In the end, a new stanza is started to break the thoughts because the siren has cause the listener to jump and no longer needs to sing. The only unfamiliar and unusual word used was squadrons which means in groups. This describes the amount of men the three sirens could entice and lure in at once.

-I: The only imagery in this poem referenced is the bird suit with feathers and beached skulls. These are the only two elements that lead me to picture something concrete. I also feel that the poem is some form of imagery, too. It draws in the sense of hearing so that they reader can begin to picture the ‘feathery maniac’ singing this beautiful song.

-F: There is no figurative language.

-T: This poem has an alluring, seductive tone at the beginning. The siren is drawing in the listener, telling him that he is the only one that can help her and that she is stuck in misery. After the siren has caused the listener to jump, the tone of the poem changes to indifference. The siren has won and states that the song she sings is boring but effective.

-T: This poem draws roots from Greek mythology, so a lesson is tied to it when siren is mentioned. This theme is to always listen to the signs and not the speaker. The men who hear the song are giving adequate warning sign the death is certain if they are attracted to the siren. They can see the beached skulls and hear in the song that almost everyone who hears the song is dead.

CONCLUSION:

I feel that my first reaction to this poem was correct. It is stated in the first stanza that this is a song and the title tells the reader that they mythological creature siren is singing to entice males into their doom. The siren keeps seducing the males in by stating that they need their help. They call the listeners special. At a point, the seducing ends when the reader can assume the listener(s) jumped overboard like described in the beginning of the song. Based on wording, a reader can assume that the siren is singing to more than one male by the use of the word “squadrons” which refers to multiple people. I feel that this really is the song and that there may not be more. Even though there is a dramatic shift in tone where the reader can assume that the males jumped, I think that the siren has such an absolute control over the vast number of men who pass that the singing siren does not need more to the song like the shift may indicate.