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 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.
Maraget Atwood
In the poem "Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood she uses the Sirens from the
"Odyssey" and gives them reversal roles. In the "Odyssey", Homer portrays the Sirens as dangerous and very deceptive. Margaret Atwood however, shows the Sirens in danger or vulnerable, and extreme desperation. In the third amd fifth stanzas it explains the desperation the Sirens have. It says "get me out of this bird suit?" and "Help me" (Atwood Line 12, 22). The woman showing that they need help or liberation shows Atwood's frequent use of weak
feminine roles.
In 'Siren Song" there are six stanzas with each stanza having three lines except
for the third stanza which has 12 lines. Also throughout the poem, the Sirens are reduced to a single, female entity. It also seems as if thr Sirens are playing a game because it's evident in the Siren's tone and rheterical strategy used throughout the poem. In the six stanza it mentions that "it is a boring song" (Atwood Line 26). The entire event of the "boring song" is just a game set up for a trap. (Atwood Line 27) This line says "it works every time" which gives you a feeling that someone is being tricked or trapped.
Basically Atwood uses the Sirens in her poem to show women who are trying to escape from the female stereotype. Overall I think Atwood is trying to say that women want to be saved from this stereotype and gender roles which is why Atwood switches the roles of the Sirens in her poem as opposed to the oringinal "Odyssey" story.
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3 comments:
I agree with your blog. Siren song is a poem about the chase between the male and the female and the male ego. I also saw the poem about a call to indivduality. it is almost as if women sing this song over and over seducing men like society expects them too and the men become puffed up as expected. but atwood asks us to make our own song and take a new path, to be an individual.
I do agree with this blog in the feminist sense. Atwood does uses the typical male charactertisic and female charcaterisitcs and flip their roles almost. the men are enticed by these women trying to save them, but in the end, its the women who end up singin this sonng that ends up killin them. A symbol of power over men...HAHa
I agree with ya 100% like when we were in groups because we had agree with this idea when we were in groups. I think u could of add more on atwoods diction to show the effect of how she shows the sterorypes. The term bird suit, the way on how u defined it I also agreed with. however it is an ambiguous term, and we be wrong, who knows for sure?
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