Poetry · Chapter
An Average explained
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.
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.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional and psychological peak occurs when the speaker’s obsessive pursuit of the divine rose fragrance…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes 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.
Characters to notice
- Unknown
The speaker who confesses a divided affection between blondes and brunettes.
Key passages
“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.
