( Please note : The notes here are for a quick recapitulation of the poem and can’t replace a
thorough reading of the same. Using value points from your self-reading and class discussions
in addition will complete them.)
Poem 6 A ROADSIDE STAND Robert Frost (1874-1963)
THEME: The poem A Roadside Stand depicts the miserable lives of the rural poor and the lack
of compassion, concern shown by city dwellers, government, other social service agencies.
● Robert Frost is critical of the contemptuous way in which the city dwellers look at the
villagers who yearn to sell their vegetables by setting up a roadside stand by the side of
the high way. He reminds us that the economic well- being of a country depends on a
balanced development of the villages and the cities.
Main Points:
Lines 1-22
The villagers have set up a roadside stand as an extension to their houses by the side of the
high way. Though they ache for some money to better their living conditions it would be unfair to
say that these poor folk implore for charity. They expect the rich city dwellers who pass by in
their speeding cars in the highway to stop and buy some of the local produce like berries or
golden squash. But the humble road side stand fails to impress the rich city people. Instead of
helping these deprived folk they complain about the tasteless way in which it is painted or the
signboards that are marked wrong. The poet angrily says that the hurt to the scenery wouldn’t
be his complaint. The poet conveys the ardent desire of the rural poor to feel some cash in their
hands which help them to expand their living conditions. They may live the prosperous life
depicted in movies which the party in power forbids them to enjoy.
Lines 23-31
The poet openly talks about the exploitation that takes place in the villages. The villagers are
lured with the promise that they can stay near a theatre or a store and are Frost expands his
theme by saying that 'good-doers' who want to re-locate the country people into the cities and
lure them with the promise that if they went there, they would be able to access stores and
cinemas. Thus, they deprive them of their reasoning skills and do more harm. They force these
people to be dependent on others. The exploiters and the exploited lose their sleep. The
exploiters lose their sleep because those who have earned their living by illicit means fail to
have a good sleep at night. The exploited repent their foolish decisions and pine over the way in
which they were cheated by others and are not able to sleep at night. Moreover, in the cities
they are not able to work as they did in the rural places.Hence, they can’t sleep.
Lines 32-43
The poet finds it difficult to bear the pain of those who wait near the roadside stand with an open
prayer to make the speeding cars to stop. Some of the cars do stop but to reverse, to ask the
way or to ask for a gallon of gas.
Lines 44-51
The poet listens to the voice of the countryside that complains of how the requisite lift of spirit
has not been given to it. It would be a great relief for him if he would be able to put them out of
their pain in one stroke. But the next day when he returns to sanity, he realizes that it is
impossible to happen and requests the reader to join him in his efforts.
POETIC DEVICES
Transferred Epithet: Polished traffic
Personification: The sadness that lurks behind the window, Selfish cars, polished traffic ,The
roadside stand that too pathetically pled
Alliteration: Greedy good doers, beneficent beasts of prey,, pathetically pled
Oxymoron: Greedy good doers, beneficent beasts of prey
Metaphor: Flower of cities
Imagery : A roadside stand that too pathetically pled....
QUESTIONS BASED ON EXTRACTS:
1.Offered for sale are wild berries in wooden quarts,
Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts,
Or beauty rest in a mountain scene,
Questions:
(i) What articles are ‘offered for sale’ at the stand?
(ii) What qualities of the ‘offered articles’ make them unfit for sale?
(iii) What does, ‘beauty rest in a mountain scene’ mean?.
(iv)How does’ crook- necked ‘ and ’ silver warts’ add to your understanding of the vegetables
offered for sale?
Answers:
(i)Wildberries in wooden containers , crook-necked golden squash with silver warts and
paintings of mountain scenery are for sale at the roadside stand.
(ii) The articles for sale at the roadside stand are wild and therefore lack the polished look of
the similar articles available in the cities. Moreover, these articles are not packed properly.
(iii)Beauty resting in a mountain scene is probably a scenic painting made by the inhabitants of
the roadside stand meant for selling to the rich people.
(iv)It tells that the vegetables are wild and lack the polish of the similar ones sold in the city.
Hence the humble vegetables don’t appeal the urban rich.
2.The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my complaint
So much as the trusting sorrow of what is unsaid:
Here far from the city we make our roadside stand
And ask for some city money to feel in hand
To try if it will not make our being expand,
And give us the life of the moving pictures’ promise
That the party in power is said to be keeping from us.
Questions:
(i) Name the poem and the poet.
(ii) What is not a complaint for the poet?
(iii)What do the owners of the shack wish for? (iv)How will it help them?
Answers:
(i)The poem is ‘A Roadside Stand’ and the poet is Robert Frost.
(ii) The hurt to the scenery is not a complaint for the poet.
(iii) The owners of the shack wish to earn some cash by selling their products.
(iv) It will help them to make their living conditions better.
SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS (30-40 words)
1. What do you mean by ‘polished traffic?
Ans. Polished traffic refers to the rich city dwellers travelling in big, luxurious cars.They appear
to be ‘polished’ outside but their minds do not understand the sufferings of the poor people.
2. Explain, ‘passed with a mind ahead.’
Ans. The city people who passed by the roadside stand were self-centred and their minds were
restless with greed for money and ambitions for great profits in their business.
3. What are the usual complaints made by the city men when they stop at the roadside stand?
Ans. The rich people to and from the cities usually have the same sets of complaints. Having
failed to see the miseries of the poor, they complain that the roadside stand, with the tasteless
way in which it is painted, ruined the beauty of the nature. Another complaint is that direction
boards are wrongly written.
4. State the reasons for which the cars from the city halt at the roadside stand?
Ans. Some cars stop at the roadside stand to take a reverse and some of them ask for
directions to their destinations. A few of them demand fuel.
5. How will 'greedy good doers' and beneficent beasts of prey' exploit the poor villagers ?
Ans. The greedy people will pose as 'good-doers'. They will swarm over the lives of the poor
rural folk. They will make plans to extract maximum profit from them. These people are more
cruel than the wild beasts of prey. Their only aim is to mint money and earn huge profits by
befooling the innocent villagers. They will themselves 'sleep all day' but 'destroy ‘ the poor
villagers’ ‘sleeping at night'.
6. Why does the poet feel that the rural people have a 'childish longing in vain' ?
Ans. The poet feels that the people who are running the roadside stand are always pathetically
soliciting the customers. It is a futile exercise. They keep the windows open. They go on waiting
for a long time. In spite of it, few customers turn up. Hence,the poet thinks that it is nothing more
than a vain 'childish longing'.
7. Why do the people who are running the roadside stand wait for the squeal of brakes so
eagerly?
Ans. The people who are running the roadside stand are always waiting for the city folk to stop
there to buy something. This will mean flow of cash. The squeal of brakes and the sound of a
stopping car are auspicious signs for them. These indicate the arrival of city folk and raise their
hopes to sell something.
8. 'Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass', only some stop there but not for buying something.
Why do they stop there?
Ans. Some car stops only to use the yard to back and turn around the car. The other stops to
ask the way to where it is bound. The third one asks if they can sell a gallon of gas. The
purpose of these 'selfish cars' is not to buy something. They stop here only to serve their own
interests.
9. What will be a great relief to the poet? How can the problems of the rural poor be solved?
Ans. The poet is much worried at the plight of the poor. It will be a great relief to him if these
people are put out of their pains at one stroke. Their miserable living is no better than death.
The poet wants an immediate end to the sufferings of the rural poor.
10. In 'A Roadside Stand', how does Robert Frost make a passionate plea for proper relief and
rehabilitation of the rural poor?
Ans. Robert Frost draws readers’ attention to the plight of the rural poor. The apathy of the
selfish rich, false promises of the party in power are clearly hinted. The rural people’s
exploitation by the 'greedy good doers' whose beneficent ways soothe the poor out of their wits
to mint money is highlighted. The poet passionately cries protests that the miserable life of the
rural poor is no better than death. He stresses that they need proper relief and rehabilitation.
QUESTIONS FOR PRACTICE
A .Questions based on extracts :
1.It is in the news that all these pitiful kin
Are to be bought out and mercifully gathered in
To live in villages, next to the theatre and the store,
Where they won't have to think for themselves anymore,
Questions
(i) Who do 'all these pitiful kin' refer to?
(a) very poor rural folks
(b) city folks
(c) rural children
(d) city vehicles
(ii)The rural folks will live ______according to ‘the news’ :
(a ) in better living conditions
(b) in a group mercifully
(c ) in pitiful conditions
(d) in a tent house
(iii) According to the new scheme , theatres and stores are selected for the suitable _________
of rural folks:
(a) entertainment
(b) accommodation
(c) education
(d) training
(iv) The poet is _____ about the promises made to the rural folks.
(a ) hopeful
(b) excited
(c ) thoughtless
(d) hopeless
2. While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of prey,
Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits
That are calculated to soothe them out of their wits,
And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep all day,
Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way.
Questions
(i) Who are greedy good-doers here?
(a) social service agencies
( b) poor rural folks
(c) polished car drivers
(d) innocent people
(ii) The greedy good-doers are compared with beasts of prey because they are:
(a) cruelly selfish
(b) very charitable
(c) falsely encouraging
(d) very overpowering
(iii) The rural folks will lose their sleep at night due to:
(a) fast work
(b) overwork
(c) no work
(d) new work
(iv) Which of the following is meant by ‘the ancient way’ ?
(a ) sleeping all day
(b) calculating benefits
(c ) enforcing benefits
(d) exploitating the poor
B. Answer each f the following questions in about 30-40 words :
1.Describe the condition of the roadside stand.
2. How will cunning and greedy people soothe the rural people?
3. What is meant by ‘the life of the moving-pictures’ ?
4. How did the people of the roadside stand react to the enquiries and complaints of the
polished car owners ?
5. What does the poet mean by ‘country money’ or ‘country scale of gain’ ?
6. What support do the rural people expect from the city dwellers?
C. Answer the following questions in about 120-150 words each :
1.Robert Frost presents the lives of the poor deprived people with the deepest sympathy and
humanity. Illustrate with reference to the poem ‘A Roadside Stand’.
2. ‘A Roadside Stand’ highlights the economic disparity between the innocent, deprived rural
people , and the heartless,affluent city dwellers by effectively using irony. Elaborate with
evidence from the poem.
