1. What kind of voice does the speaker use for the poem? Why is she not your typical Siren? 2. How does the poem's free verse help to update the Siren myth for us? Would the poem have sounded any different with a prescribed meter?
3. How does Atwood turn the predator-prey theme on its head by the end of the poem? What seems to be the major point behind it all?
4. Why does the speaker keep repeating clauses like "the song" and "only you"? What's she trying to do with all the anaphora?
5. Do you feel bad for the Siren at any point of the poem? If so, how does the speaker manage to make us feel sympathetic toward her internal conflict?

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 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.