Siren Song by Margaret Atwood

     Siren Song, by Margaret Atwood tells the story of the boring and predictable lust of a siren. The entire poem is an allusion to the period of Greek mythology and how it was dangerous for sailors and men to be lured in by the seductiveness of the sirens along with the beautiful and enchanting songs they would sing. The narrator in the poem happens to be a siren along with two others, and she confesses that although she may find entertainment in the way "the song that is irresistible... that forces men to leap overboard in squadrons", she does not enjoy the vanity of her lifestyle. With the author's birth date being in 1939, it can be assumed that this poem was written during the time of sexual revolution and women's rights becoming more of an important topic. Therefore, the mindset of the beautiful siren that is just plain tired of the job is taking on the mindset of what a modern woman's would have been during that time.
     The siren is speaking to a person, assumed to be a man, thinking that she can confide in him without him becoming completely entranced by the ever-present beauty and illusion of the sirens. While she begins to sing a song as a cry for help to the man, it starts to lure him in. The last stanza, "Alas/ it is a boring song/ but it works every time" makes the reader believe that all this time, it was not the true purpose of the siren to confide in the man, but to trick him under the circumstances and have him succumb to whatever they want. However, this still goes along with the theme of a woman using the powers of sex and beauty to accomplish whatever they choose. The enjambment in this poem works to the advantage of the siren because just when the reader thinks one thing is going to happen, the next line arrives and the plot differs.