35 pages 1 hour read

Margaret Atwood

Siren Song

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1974

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Introduction

“Siren Song”

  • Originally Published: 1974
  • Form/Meter: Free verse in 9 tercets
  • Literary Devices: Humor; irony; allusion; imagery
  • Central Concern: With irony, the speaker of the poem (a Siren) considers the power of the siren song.

Margaret Atwood, Poet

  • Bio: Born in 1939; a native of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; graduate of Victoria College and Harvard University; writes poetry, novels, short fiction, essays, criticism, and nonfiction books; recipient of the Franz Kafka International Literary Award, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Booker Prize, among other awards
  • Other Works: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985); The Blind Assassin (2002); Oryx and Crake (2008); “Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet” (2009)

THEMES

  • The Influence of Ego on the Perception of Helplessness
  • Woman as Weapon
  • Art and the Island