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Siren Song Margaret Atwood

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The poem Siren Song by Margaret Atwood, uses similes and metaphors to help express her theme of the power women have over men. Atwood shows us the blinding ignorance of men and their ego. He shows us in different ways. Using Figurative language, by using different metaphors a

This poem is about the Siren’s song and the effects it has on men. The author gives us a description of this by explaining, “the song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons”. This is an example of imagery that shows the power of the song. Another example of this imagery is when it is said “I don’t enjoy it here squatting on this island”. This gives a picture of the sirens like birds squatting on a beach.

The poem is structured in a way that it puts the song in the end. This is an important shift because it not only shows us the song sung by the sirens, but it also shows us the speaker of the poem is a siren. We know the speaker is the siren because the only ones who know the song are the sirens, for example it says “The song nobody knows because everyone who has heard it is dead”. This is followed by the song which starts saying “Shall I tell you a secret and if I do, will you get me out of this bird suit?” The Sirens can be seen as a bird like creature, with the beauty of a woman. …show more content…

Then as the song begins it starts to become sorrowful saying “This song is a cry for help: Help me! Only you, only you can, you are unique”. This is deceptive because this is used to draw the listener in to rescue the person crying for help, by making the listener feel important and needed. This shows how the Sirens deceive the men to come to their rescue, just to end up dying by their own

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In the “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood, there is a tremendous use of literary devices to emphasize and create her theme. The theme of the “Siren Song” is one of deception and lies, the speaker talks about how the reader is “unique” (24) and how “only you, only you can” (23) help her. The siren deceives the reader by making him believe that we are the greatest heroes and that only we can save her. The poem is written in the point of view of the siren, this allows the reader to uncover the poem with them which creates a deeper more realistic story. The siren says “will you get me out of this bird suit” (11-12), Atwood’s word choice plays a big part in making the speaking siren sound like a victim that’s trapped in the form of a siren.

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In “Siren Song”, the speaker of the poem seems to be the siren referred to in the piece’s title. A siren is a seductive and beautiful

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In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Siren Song” she says, “Come closer. This song is a cry for help: Help me! Only you, only you can, you are unique” (21-24). This part of the poem shows the siren trying to seduce the man or audience. Romare Bearden’s artwork, “The Sirens’ Song”, also show the sirens being seductive and this is seen by the more pose attracting pose they are doing.

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Beauty and good looks tend to carry a certain advantage throughout modern society. This advantage allows these people to “control” or manipulate people, and subsequently things, to their own likings. This “luring” is exemplified as sirens in Homer’s epic, “The Odyssey.” This application of Homer’s work is demonstrated throughout Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Siren Song,” in which diction, hyperbole, and a deceivingly alluring tone are applied in order to express the ease of which people with these desirable traits are able to exploit the thinking of others into their own likings, despite the ill-fated circumstances that are bound to come.

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What is the purpose of all the contrasting, descriptive imagery? What elements underlyingly stand for other items? The poem opens with the speaker reflecting on their past and relating to frogs asserting that they

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Sandra Cisneros’ story titled “Woman Hollering Creek” and Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” share major social struggles such as power imbalances and the struggle in the search for perfection, yet they convey these issues in vastly different ways. Cisneros utilizes the allusion of telenovelas that she mentions and connects to numerous times throughout her story and also incorporates imagery and hyperboles to contrast her character Cleófilas’ fantastical desires of living in a telenovela against the truth of her harsh reality. Furthermore, Atwood mainly uses imagery and deliberate diction to bring her point across where she takes a mythical, magical being off their pedestal as other stories on sirens would never have done. “Siren Song” and “Woman

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Moreover, in “Song to the Siren,” the Siren’s, “singing eyes and fingers,” drew the human male lovingly to her isle (Buckley). Once again the Siren seduces the man by her looks and voice to proceed to her island. This femme fatale not only has a way of causing men to fall for her charm, yet she can also manipulate them into following her exact orders, not matter the cost. With a mesmerizing ability to manipulate and have an impacting influence on unadulterated men who follow the command of the creatures’ enticing nature, the Sirens effortlessly turn a passing stranger into a mindless vessel who is unfortunately reaching the verge of their impending doom. In “Sirens Song,” the power of the Siren’s manipulation is explained as statement of, “Oh what a Siren can do to a man with open ears,” which implies that the song sung by the Siren casts a spell of control over the listener (Miss May I).

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Sandra Cisneros’ “Woman Hollering Creek” and Margaret Atwood’s “Siren Song” demonstrate the disparities between men’s desires and women’s desires in the 1900’s through the use of symbolism. In “Siren Song,” the speaker is a siren who complains about being stuck on an island with nothing to do but sing songs to attract sailors and consume them. “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.” (Atwood, lines 13-18). Because the siren admits to being a deadly trap, it is implied that the person that the siren is speaking to is not a target of the siren.

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The poem starts with a mysterious story, and the Siren claims she hates where she is. But it ends with a disturbing surprise when she clarifies “it is a boring song/ but it works every time” (Atwood). This discloses the deceiving way of the Sirens; the whole poem is a trick the reader falls for each time, just how the prey would be eaten. Next, Atwood conveys a tone of playfulness when the Siren complains she doesn’t “enjoy it here/ squatting on this island/ looking picturesque and mythical/ with these two feathery maniacs” (Atwood).

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In “Sirens Song” and “Song to the Siren,” the allusion to Greek mythology is helpful when portraying how the male is lured by the female and ultimately ruined as the same love is not shown in return. As an individual would know with prior knowledge of Homer’s epic, The Odyssey, the Sirens are a trio of half birds, half females who lure men into their isle through singing mysterious songs. Similar to The Odyssey, the men described in the songs are also drawn in by a female. In “Song to the Siren,” the artist wrote, “your singing eyes and fingers drew me loving to your isle” (Buckley). The narrator, presumably a male, is drawn towards the Siren-like woman by her initial qualities, including beauty.

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The poems Spinster and Siren song may appear quite different when they are first examined because of their diverse plot lines. The themes of the poems seem to be quite contradictory to each other. However when they are fully analyzed they begin to reveal themes that tie the two of them closer together than it might first seem. The protagonists of the two poems seem to have very different approaches in dealing with men that they encounter in their lives. The spinster, although very alluring to the men in her life, chooses to live a life of solitude.

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Atwood uses literary elements such as allusion, imagery, and tone in the poem “Siren Song” to charm her subject. The use of allusion throughout the poem refers to the epic poem, the “Odyssey”. As both works show sailors being lured from their ships as they hear the song of the Sirens, a relationship is shown between the poems although it is not directly stated. Imagery is also a key element of the poem. As Atwood mentions, “the song that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons”, the lengths the men would go to just from hearing the mythical song is shown, which ultimately led them to their deaths.

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