Atwood then continues, in the second stanza, to explain how the men, “leap overboard in squadrons / even though they see beached skulls.” This shows how completely irresistible the siren’s song actually is. Although the men see the skulls of the ill-fated men, they are not able to pull themselves away from this music. The men know their fate, but they are unable to drive their ship away, for it is too alluring. They promptly jump overboard and swim toward the overpowering music.
In the third stanza, Atwood relates the life of a siren to her life as a human. She says, “will you get me / out of this bird suit?” This shows that in her life, she does not like where she is, but she is cleverly relating this problem in her life to the life of a siren, who doesn’t like where she is in life, killing innocent men. Because the sirens are bird-women, she says that she is stuck inside a bird-suit. In her life, this bird-suit could be representing several different things. The most probable assumption is that the bird-suit is the wall separating her from the outside world. She shows her distaste to this when she refers to the sirens as “squatting,” which is a word that makes you think of something being uncomfortable. She also voices her dislike where she is, and her desire to leave. Although the siren doesn’t like singing, she realizes that this is “valuable,” and respects her duty, because the power that she has overpowers her distaste of the way of life. In the same sense, Atwood realizes that although she may not be completely content with her life, her life is still valuable and precious, and she must learn to value it.
Margaret Atwood is a feminist (and has been all her life), and this is seen throughout this poem. She uses the common stereotypes of women, which are being feeble, vulnerable, etc. She uses these myths to show how women can be helpless, but they can also be willing to trap men and trick them into commitment. This part is written from the women’s point of view, and she displays how the men always want to feel superior and make it seem like they have “saved” the woman.
In the last stanza, she explains how she can relate to the practices of the sirens. She implies that she has used the same seductive manner with men, but when she becomes close to them, she appears boring, like the “boring song.” Although she does not like this practice, she states that it, “works every time.” Atwood is feeling like her life is vacant at this time, and she is resorting to seducing men to fill the void in her life. However, these relationships presumably do not last long. In mythology, all the men either die or forever have no memory. Just like the sirens, the men that Atwood encounters either disappear or forget about her completely.
