sirens song

In “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood, Atwood uses the siren song from Greek mythology to help depict how women use their methods to reel men into loving them, no matter how foreboding the situation is.
The most important literary technique present in this poem is the allusion Atwood utilizes to compare women to sirens. Just like the sirens have their song to lure men into their trap, women have their beauty to attract men to them. I believe that this poem discusses the ritual that women engage in to attract a man, which signifies the reversal in traditional relationships where in the man attracts and wins the woman by showing off.
Another prominent component of this poem is the tone and mood that Atwood inspires with her words. She uses words such as “death, beached skulls, cry, and maniacs” it create a gloomy atmosphere that screams foreboding! When talking about this “island” and the “sirens.”
The final idea present in this poem is that the poem itself is the sirens song. This is seen in the way that the speaker is constantly talking to “you” as the object. Every sentence is referring to you, the listener. This is also shown in the way that in the fourth stanza the speaker says, “I will the secret to you, to you, only to you. Come closer.” This suggests that you are the sailor being referred to throughout the poem and that you are the one being drawn in just like the rest.
As you can see, throughout “sirens song”, Atwood uses allusions and visual imagery to both convey messages about men and women as well as to portray a gloomy and despairing tone and mood regarding it. Finally she wraps it all up in the idea that the listener is the victim and the speaker is one of the sirens, which makes for a very interesting twist.