Siren Song

Siren Song, by 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 beached skulls

the song nobody knows
because anyone who had 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.

We read this poem in English class awhile ago, which prompted me to write a poem about my relationship with music in response to it. It's unfinished, but I think that because of this unit we've had in Philosophy class, I'll have to go back and finish it up. I'm very surprised to see just how Platonic some of my writing on music was! I disagree with Plato wholeheartedly on the idea that art, as a whole, is bad, but I am finally starting to understand what he was saying. We become so entranced with aesthetics, that we forget how they relate to their own life. We drift away into a fantasy world where we don't have to play by the rules of our own life. Do we attach false meanings to art, in order to justify our irrational enjoyment of it? I don't know.

Anyways, I know Plato is no fan of poetry, but I think he would certainly appreciate the idea Atwood has here. :)