A roadside stand

A roadside stand
➢ About the Poet - Robert Frost

➢ Reading Time!

➢ Working with the text

 About the author - Robert Frost
Let’s Begin!
Robert Frost (1874-1963) is a highly acclaimed American poet of the
twentieth century. Robert Frost wrote about characters, people and
landscapes. His poems are concerned with human tragedies and fears,
his reaction to the complexities of life and his ultimate acceptance of
his burdens. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening, Birches,
Mending walls are a few of his well-known poems. In the poem A
Roadside Stand, Frost presents the lives of poor deprived people with
pitiless clarity and with the deepest sympathy and humanity.
 A roadside stand
Theme of the Poem

The idea of simplicity and the state of the marginalised vendors of the
contry side is the theme of the poem “A Roadside Stand” from the Class 12
English Flamingo textbook. In the poem, a roadside fruit and vegetable
stand is described, and the speaker considers how straightforward and
truthful both the stand and its proprietors are.
 A roadside stand
The poem implies that even seemingly insignificant things, like a tiny fruit
shop, can have profound beauty and significance. It also considers the
innocence and ignorance of these poor people and how they expect from
the rich The poem also discusses the idea of how the government agencies
befool them.
 A roadside stand
The little old house was out with a little new shed
In front at the edge of the road where the traffic sped,
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled,
It would not be fair to say for a dole of bread,
But for some of the money, the cash, whose flow supports

Pathetically: In a way that arouses pity, especially by displaying sadness Dole of Bread: a
tiny portion of bread
 A roadside stand
The flower of cities from sinking and withering faint.
The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint
Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong

Marred: Spoilt
 A roadside stand
Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts,
Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts,
Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene,
You have the money, but if you want to be mean,
Why keep your money (this crossly) and go along.
The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my complaint

Squash: here, a fruit Warts: A small growth on the outer surface Crossly: In an annoyed or
angry way
 A roadside stand
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.
 A roadside stand
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,
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.

Kin: one’s family and relations Beneficent: generous or doing good Beasts of Prey: an
animal killing other animal Out of their wits: their perplexed or terrified state
 A roadside stand
Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear
The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer
For the squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car,

In vain: without success or a result Lurk: be or remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for
someone or something
 A roadside stand
Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass,
Just one to inquire what a farmer’s prices are.
And one did stop, but only to plow up grass
In using the yard to back and turn around;
And another to ask the way to where it was bound;

Plow : move in a fast and uncontrolled manner

 A roadside stand
And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of gas
They couldn’t (this crossly); they had none, didn’t it see?
No, in country money, the country scale of gain,
The requisite lift of spirit has never been found,
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,
 A roadside stand
I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.
And then next day as I come back into the sane,
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.
 A roadside stand
1. The city folk who drove through the countryside hardly paid any
heed to the roadside stand or to the people who ran it. If at all they
did, it was to complain. Which lines bring this out? What was their
complaint about?
“The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint
Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong”
According to the city folk, these stalls with inartistic signboards blemish
the scenic beauty of the landscape.
 A roadside stand
2. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand?

Answer

The rural folks pleaded pathetically for some customers to stop by and
buy some of their goods. City folks used to pass by on this road and hence
the rural folk set up the roadside stand to attract their attention and sell
their goods.
 A roadside stand
3. The government and other social service agencies appear to help the
poor rural people, but actually do them no good. Pick out the words and
phrases that the poet uses to show their double standards.

The poet criticizes the double standards of the government and other
social service agencies who promise to improve the standard of living of
the poor farmers and show them the rosy side of life. Yet, when the time
comes to deliver their promise, they either forget them or fulfill them
keeping in view their own benefits.
 A roadside stand
The poet calls them “greedy good-doers” and “beneficent beasts of prey”,
who “swarm over their lives”. The poet says that these greedy people make
calculated and well thought-out shrewd moves, to which the innocent,
unaware farmers fall prey. These humble and simple farmers are robbed of
their peace of mind by these clever people. The poet says, “…..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.”
 A roadside stand
4. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it
‘vain’?

Answer

The poet thinks that the persons who are running the roadside stand,
suffer from a childish longing. They are always expecting customers and
waiting for their prospective customers. They keep their windows open to
attract them. They become sad when no one turns up. They are always
waiting to hear the squeal of brakes, the sound of a stopping car. But all
their efforts go in vain.
 A roadside stand
5. Which lines tell us about the insufferable pain that the poet feels at
the thought of the plight of the rural poor?

Filled with empathy, the poet is unable to bear the plight of the
unassuming and innocent rural people. The lines below show his
insufferable pain: “Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear
The thought of so much childish longing in vain,
The sadness that lurks near the open window there,
That waits all day in almost open prayer”
 summary

➢ SUMMARY- THE ROADSIDE STAND

 SUMMARY
The Roadside Stand by Robert Frost is a poem that explores themes of
rural poverty, exploitation, and the desire for economic justice. The
poem centers around a small roadside stand run by a poor farmer or
rural family, selling homemade goods such as produce to passing
travelers.
 SUMMARY
The poet depicts the stand as a symbol of the struggles of rural life,
where people try to make a living by selling what little they have.
Despite the earnest efforts of the roadside vendors, the poet conveys a
sense of isolation and frustration, as their goods are largely ignored by
the wealthy urban travelers. These travelers, in their luxury, pass by the
stand without giving it much attention, reflecting the widening gap
between the urban and rural classes.
 SUMMARY
Frost uses the stand to represent the plight of rural farmers who
remain unnoticed and neglected by the broader society. The vendors'
hope is that, through their hard work, they will attract buyers who will
recognize their worth and offer a fair price. However, the reality is that
the wealthier people seem indifferent, and the sellers remain
marginalized.
 SUMMARY
The poem also highlights the irony that the vendors are selling their
goods to the very people who are responsible for their poverty. The
stand’s location, on the side of the road, suggests a position of
powerlessness. The poet portrays the vendors as being trapped in a
cycle of poverty, where their small-scale efforts seem insignificant
compared to the larger economic forces at play.
 SUMMARY
In the latter part of the poem, the poet conveys a sense of bitterness,
expressing the vendors’ desire to be seen and valued, rather than being
just an accessory to the busy, consumer-driven lives of urban society.
They long for recognition and for their struggles to be acknowledged.
 SUMMARY
Ultimately, The Roadside Stand reflects Frost's critique of societal
inequality, the disconnect between rural and urban communities, and
the harsh reality of economic disparity. The poem serves as a poignant
reminder of the struggles faced by the marginalized and the often
unnoticed contributions they make to the economy and society.
A roadside stand