Siren Song

“Siren Song” is written in free verse, which, by most definitions, has no formal meter. Free verse is an interesting choice for a poem about a song, given the absence of meter, and also underscores the theme that the music may not come in a guise too easily recognized.

Nine tercets give the poem form, however, and definite shape. The absence of end-rhyme and the use of everyday language offer a conversational mood. When the speaker begins to address the reader/listener direction in the fourth stanza, the poem becomes quite intimate. The introduction of the “I” and “you” pronouns lure in the reader/listener. Distinctive use of various metrical feet contribute to the ironic tone of the piece. For example, in the fourth stanza, “out of this bird suit” (Line 12) provides four single syllable words, four beats, the last two of which—bird suit—offer side-by-side stressed syllables, a dactylic effect allowing the phrase to be both silly and weighted.

In the fifth stanza, “picturesque and mythical” gives two anapests (stressed-unstressed-unstressed) that take all the high-toned air out of the notions of what is normally thought when reading “picturesque and mythical,” and imbue them with a sing-song