# An Average explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Ambrose Bierce.

## What happens

The narrator reflects on their inability to fully commit to either blondes or brunettes, resolving the dilemma by loving both equally as a happy medium.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Communication

The poem explores the narrator's romantic preferences and the compromise of loving both types of women.

### Nature and Artifice

Contrasts natural hair colors (blonde and brunette) as elements of human nature, seeking a balanced ideal.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who confesses a divided affection between blondes and brunettes.

## Key lines

> I ne'er could be entirely fond Of any maiden who's a blonde, And no brunette that e'er I saw My whole devotion e'er could draw.

I have never been able to love a blonde completely, nor has any brunette ever captured my full devotion.

_The narrator admits to a partial but incomplete attraction to each hair color._

> Yet sure no girl was ever made Just half of light and half of shade. And so, this happy mean to get, I love a blonde and a brunette.

No woman is perfectly balanced between light and dark, so to achieve that balance I love both a blonde and a brunette.

_The narrator resolves his dilemma by loving one of each, creating his own average._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters/an-average
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_se/chapters