Edna St. Vincent Millay's "Love is not all" puts a more realistic spin on the concept of love. By using a ABABCDCD (etc) and a pentameter, she establishes a natural cadence for the reader of the poem. Within the content of the poem itself, she seems to criticize the idealistic idea that if there is love, all is well. It can't fill the stomach, it can't create shelter, it can't raise the dead. But yet, in line 12, if it came down to selling the love she has for the greater good or for sustenance, she would choose to keep the love instead. Millay conveys the idea that can't possibly be the one thing that one should depend on, however, if it's present, it should be above all else.
"Siren Song" by Margaret Atwood eludes to Greek mythology with the half-woman half-bird Siren sisters who would lead sailors to their demise by singing to them their greatest wishes. The enjambments she uses evokes an unnatural reading pattern, similar to how the Sirens themselves and their songs are unnatural. When she reveals the secret, just that its "... Help me!/Only you, only you can,/ you are unique/ at last. ...", it shows how simple reality is and how our idea of love is dependent on how we perceive we are needed by another.
I would agree with both Millay and Atwood. The reality of it all is that love cant be an end all be all or be a magical fixer upper, but if I had it, the feelings that would be present would be hard to pass up. I think. And I do think that we're drawn to ourselves being put up on a pedestal as the "Siren Song" would suggest. We like to feel wanted and to feel needed, and it instills this sense of love/lust in us. There is a truer love than "Siren Song" that can be found in "Love is not all", but "Love is not all" understands how senseless love may seem as well.
Why do you feel that the enjambment in "Siren Song" creates an unnatural pattern? I agree entirely that the simplicity of the bewitching sirens' message gives us pause--we just want to be admired and special.
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