What if there was something so irresistible that you lose all determination? The Sirens are a group of women who sing a song so catchy that ships are constantly drawn to their island. They are often represented as birds with a woman's head. In Homer's Odyssey, Ulysses and his men must cross the island of the Sirens to return to Ithaca, their homeland. To prevent his men from jumping into the sea towards the enchanting song, Odysseus plugs his men's ears with wax, then is tied up and listens to the song. The song forces Odysseus to head for the island, but his obedient men ignore his hysterical cries. Another depiction of the Sirens is in a poem by Margaret Atwood titled "Siren Song". The poem lures the reader into feeling pity for the speaker, who turns out to be a mermaid. These two pieces of literature can be compared using poetic devices such as tone, point of view, and imagery. Homer and Atwood use different tones to portray the same group of creatures. Homer uses a careful, tense tone when mentioning the Sirens. The alert tone is heard for the first time when the crew begins to pass the island: "We were just offshore... when the Sirens immediately sensed a ship / racing past and burst into their high-pitched, thrilling song: 'Come closer, famous Ulysses...'" (Homer 11, 12-14). This moment of Ulysses' journey is also very tense; the lives of his men and his own life are in danger. Even the Sirens sound alert and ready to capture their prey. Instead of sounding tense and alert, Atwood uses a sad and mysterious tone. The speaker sounds dark and desolate, but there is a strange aura surrounding him: the song that forces men to jump overboard in squadrons even if they see the beached skull... middle of paper... t work involve the reader with the tone. Tone creates the atmosphere, which is necessary for the poem to leave an impact. The point of view offers a broader perspective on what is happening. Without point of view, literary texts would be objective and boring. The images are the icing on the cake. The use of descriptive words, facial expressions, and action verbs gives the audience something to visualize as they read. When audiences have something to visualize, the story has a greater impact. Although Homer and Atwood wrote two different poems, they can be paired in many different ways. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. "Song of the Siren". 1976. Are You Happy, Selected Poems. 1965-1975 ed. Np: Houghton Mifflin, nd Page No. Print.Homer and Robert Fitzgerald. "Book XII Perils and Defeats of the Sea." The Odyssey. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1998. 214-16. Press.