S&K

S& K

Sam Figueroa and Kelsey McGrail Siren Song Essay

Emotional and personal language is given certain depth based on the point-of-view from which a piece is told. “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood ventures through many different tones over the course of the poem. Although the tone is initially perceived as desperate, eventually, through the point-of-view of the Sirens, readers can see that there are many underlying messages of deception and satisfaction motivated by evil. The language Atwood uses gives us a clear sense of the Sirens’ distress, but does not distract the readers from seeing their intentions. At first glance, “Siren Song” has a primarily desperate tone. The poem is told from the point-of-view of one of the sirens, who is saying “I don’t enjoy it here” (l. 13) and “I don’t enjoy singing” (l. 17). She seems like she wants nothing more than to get off of the island and stop taunting men. Certain words are indicative of the desperation, such as “cry” (l. 22) and “forces” (l. 4). Even though the second stanza isn’t about the sirens’ desperation, we still feel how desperate the men were when they jumped overboard and killed themselves. The desperation conveys the meaning of the poem because part of Atwood’s purpose in writing this is to juxtapose and protest against Homer’s depiction of the sirens. By writing from the siren’s point-of-view and using the desperate phrases, we as readers better understand her portrayal of these mythical creatures. In “Siren Song”, Atwood has again, just like in //The Penelopiad,// given a mysterious character, a voice. Previously, the Sirens have been portrayed and received as heartless lethal women, yet the diction of the poem proves otherwise. In the //Siren Song// the Siren portrays different emotion throughout, some desperation, deception, guilt, boredom, and even satisfaction. The emotions evident within the poem are conflicting, it seems as though the Siren is constantly changing her mind. The Siren’s desperation shines through throughout the entire poem as she persistently tries to persuade her prey to approach her and listen to her “secret.” However, this desperation can also be considered deception because after all it could be an act. Finally, her satisfaction is within the last line, “it is a boring song but it works every time.” She may be bored with her life or feel somewhat guilty, but at the end of every day she can be rest assured that she is successful in what she does. Margaret Atwood's "Siren Song" is told from the point-of-view of one of the Sirens, which allows the poem to assume numerous tones in a short amount of time. The poem is given its weight and meaning because of who it is being told by. Readers can see the desperation and misery the Sirens feel, but certainly cannot overlook their deceitfulness and how satisfied they are when they are able to push a man to the point of suicide. Atwood clearly conveys all of these tones in her one poem by expressing the thoughts passing through a Siren's head.