Siren Song 

Margaret Atwood

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 the beached skulls

the song nobody knows

because anyone who has 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

Atwood's use of the siren in her poem has incredible significance. A Greek mythological beast, the sirens were feared for their ability to wreck ships and kill hundreds with nothing more than their voice, singing a "siren's song" that was said to be irresistible to even the strongest of fortitude. In this poem, the siren is not only a literal siren and the narrator, as we soon find out, but also symbolic of love itself. The poem is an allegory, as it delves deep into the effects love has on humans and the way our society handles such emotion. It suggests how easily we fall victim to the "damsel in distress" stereotype, as the siren song is nothing more than a cry for help, albeit a flattering one. The need to save the damsel evokes our suppressed warrior spirit, fueling the desire to be the knight in shining armor the author thinks lays dormant within all of us. This desire quite easily leads to rash actions, culminating in becoming yet another "beached skull". All of this is the result of love. Love is deceptive and dangerous. Like courting a siren in a rocky cove.