She Walks in Beauty and Siren Song

The two poems I have chosen share a common setting: a women being admired by man. However, in one case, we see what the man perceives, while the other shows what the women thinks. "She Walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron, taking place from what I assume to be a man's perspective goes into great detail describing a woman, emphasizing how she is "so soft, so calm, yet eloquent," as well as assigning her several other traditionally feminine qualities, eventually concluding her heart's love is "innocent."

"Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood (how appropriate that the former be written by a male author and this one by a female author) starts out seemingly innocent, much like how the man perceived the woman in the previous poem, the narrator, implied to be a siren of the Greek mythos, pleading for someone to help her "out of this bird suit," going so far as to condemn the other sirens. She emphasizes that the one that has caught her attention is "unique" and "only you [he] can" help her. This desperate cry for attention and help is but a ruse as she remarks after the implied attempt at helping her fails, "Alas, it is a boring song but it works every time."

The main difference, as stated before, is that we are given two different angles between these two poems: what the male perceives and what the female actually thinks. It should be noted that I am not implying that "women or men are constantly scheming to get the better of someone who has fallen in love with them." No, a better conclusion to draw between these poems is that one must not rely purely on his or her own perception in order to make decisions in relationships. While we are not shown what the women believes in "She Walks in Beauty," we cannot simply accept what the narrator states at face value; he is simply making assumptions based on how she appears at that point in time. Thus, another conclusion that may be drawn is relationships cannot be based simply on a couple's perception of each other.

As you may have guessed, seeing as how that conclusion fits much more with "Siren Song" than "She Walks in Beauty," I do agree with the former's interpretations of relationships more than the latter. Relationships should be built on interpersonal trust rather than taking what is seen or heard at face value.