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A Roadside Stand
4 — Robert Frost

About the poet passing cars would buy his goodies. Unfortunately,
no passers-by stop their cars and buy his goodies.
Robert Frost (1874-1963) was an American poet. Moreover, even if someone stares at the direction
He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of of the stand he only criticizes the badly painted
rural life and his command of American colloquial North-South signs. Even the benefactors make the
speech. His work frequently employed settings villagers completely dependent on them thus robbing
from rural life in New England in the early them of their ability to think for themselves to be
twentieth century, using them to examine complex independent. The poet is outraged at the callous
social and philosophical themes. A popular and attitude of the government, the civic authorities and
often-quoted poet, Frost was honored frequently the social service agencies that appear to help them
during his lifetime. He had received four Pulitzer but actually end up harming them.
Prizes for Poetry.
“A Road Not Taken”, “Mending Wall”, “Stopping by
Summary
the Woods on a Snowy Evening” and “Birches” are
some of his most famous poems. The poet says that a farmer in the countryside had
erected a sundown shed, at the edge of the highway,
Theme to sell wares, to the traffic, speeding past. The
farmer was not begging, but seeking some financial
The poem ‘A Roadside Stand’ revolves around the
help from his city brethren. The city folk helped in
lives of low-income individuals. Besides, the writer
the maintenance of the city parks and gardens and
differentiates the battling lives of the field individuals
the farmer felt that, they could help the country
with the inhumane existence of the city tenants. The
city inhabitants don’t try to contemplate on the people also, by at least buying their products.
brutal state of the roadside. The city occupants don’t However, the fast moving traffic just sped past,
consider the battles of the roadside stand individuals intent on reaching their destination without even
need to experience to sell their treats. giving a cursory glance to the shed. If anyone halted
it was only to comment on how the beauty of the
 

These needy individuals have nothing to do except

believing that the passing vehicles will stop and buy mountains, a place for rest and calm had been marred
their items. If at all, a vehicle stops by, it is to think by the wrongly directing sign boards, wild berries
about bearings or to gripe about something. The in their wooden containers and the silver marked
artist profoundly identifies with these devastated vegetables, on sale.
individuals and feels empathy for them. This Disappointed and dejected the farmer tells the rich
compassion is evident in the depiction of the roadside city dwellers that they can keep their money, and
stand in a powerful way. not criticize the efforts of the country people who had
trusted their city brethren to help them, but who had
Form instead breached their faith by their indifference. The
farmer further says that they wish for some monetary
In the poem, Robert Frost has used the personal assistance only to experience the plush life revealed
pronoun in the first person which refers to the in movies, and which the politicians had deprived
country people in the first stanza and to the poet in
them of.
the third and fifth stanza. Robert Frost in his typical
The poet also says that it had been in the news that
 

style takes opposite sides in the same poem to create

a dramatic effect. these poor countryside people were to be relocated
to villages where they could have an easy access to
This also gives a sense of involvement to the reader.
the film theatre and provision store, which would
make their lives comfortable. The poor country people
Message
would be taken care of as all these greedy politicians
The poem describes a stand that a farmer has put up and similar parasites would feast on their poverty
outside his house along a highway hoping that the and provide so many benefits. These would instead

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numb their (countryside people) thoughts and they 5. Oxymoron
wouldn’t be able to think straight. By making these • greedy good-doers and beneficent beasts of prey.
poor countryside people so comfortable, these greedy

  

lot would manage to disturb their sleep pattern and 6. Alliteration
their ability to think rationally. • gallon of gas

Frost then speaks about his personal feelings that • greedy good-doers

he could not bear to see this childlike longing among • beneficent beasts

the country people who waited sadly behind open
windows, praying for someone to stop by and for once POEM IN A NUTSHELL
enquire about the farmers’ wares. However, most of
the cars pass by and even if one did stop it was to Reason country folk put up the stand
reverse and throw up the grass, another would stop The rural folks’ earnest desire was to rise above
to ask the direction, while another would halt to their wretchedness by putting up a roadside stand
enquire about the availability of petrol, showing their selling farm produce-Wild berries in wooden quarts
complete lack of insensitivity. They did not realise and crook necked golden squash with silver warts.
that the shed sold only wares and not petrol. Government’s attitude towards the rural areas

Ticking off the country people, the poet says that the They have been provided with a theater and a store,
countryside, which can gain only through farming, which is merely an illusion. It is ironical, that though
the desired spirit for improvement is missing. This it was meant to benefit them. It was a distraction,
is seen by the rundown and neglected condition of which removed them briefly from the reality.
the countryside. Reaction of the passers by
Finally the poet says that it would be such a relief One stop but only to back and turn around and
to help these country people and remove their pain another to ask directions, while a third stop to ask
and grief. However, when he thinks rationally, he for gas.
wonders how he would feel, if some one did come to
Poet’s plea for help
him, and offered him his service, i.e., to remove his
pain. Finally, the poet pleads for the cause of these people.
No amount of prosperity, can uplift the people, while
the rural masses live a subnormal existence.
Justification of the Title
Type I. Refe ence o on ex
The title is apt as the poem is about a roadside stand
r
t
C
t
t
put up by the poor country folk. The poem portrays Read the extracts given below and attempt the
the plight of the people who have painted a new shed questions that follow:
to sell the produce. The city is the source of financial 1. The little old house was out with a little new shed


stability, and the country is largely dependent on the In front at the edge of the road where the traffic
city folk to survive and they do so by putting up the
      
sped,
roadside stand.
A roadside stand that too pathetically pled,
      
Poetic Devices It would not be fair to say for a dole of bread,
     
But for some of the money, the cash, whose flow
1. Symbols
      
supports
• cars and traffic symbolise human beings
The flower of cities from sinking and withering


 
• It also symbolises human beings (in stanza one
      
faint.


it stands for country people. In stanza three and
five, it stands for the poet) Questions
2. Transferred Epithet (i) Where was the stand located?


                      
• polished traffic (a) at the edge of the road




• selfish cars (b) at the house


(c) in the city


3. Personification


(d) in the fair
• A roadside stand that too pathetically pled




4. Metaphor (ii) How had the roadside stand been made?


• trusting sorrow (iii) Explain ‘too pathetically pled’.


  

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(iv) What would not be fair to say? (iii) The people in the cars feel out of sorts because

(v) What was the real aim of running this roadside they do not appreciate the badly painted shed
and even the crooked road signs irritate them.


show?
(iv) (c) wild berries
(vi) The flower of cities’ is a

 
(v) The occupants of the old house and the shed


(a) simile (b) metaphor

feel annoyed with the passers by because they


            


(c) personification (d) alliteration (passers by) are only critical but when it comes




Answers to spending money, they do not do so and go on
(i) (a) at the edge of the road their way without buying anything.


(ii) It was just an extension of an old house and the (vi) (b) the village people




new shed was made in front of it. 3. It is in the news that all these pitiful kin

(iii) The shed begged the passers-by in the most Are to be bought out and mercifully gathered in


pathetic manner.

     
To live in villages, next to the theatre and the
(iv) It would be unfair to say that the shed was set

     
store,


up for just a dole of bread.
Where they won’t have to think for themselves
(v) The real aim was to earn some money from the

     
anymore.


city people who passed from there.
Questions
(vi) (b) metaphor
(i) What does the news proclaim?


2. The polished traffic passed with a mind ahead,


(ii) What are the pitfalls of this course of action in


Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts

the poet’s opinion?
      
At having the landscape marred with the artless (iii) Explain ‘pitiful kin’.
      
paint


(a) poor relatives (b) politicians


 


Of signs that with N turned wrong and S turned (c) kids (d) sick people
      




wrong (iv) Why will they not have to think any more?


Offered for sale wild berries wooden quarts (v) What will be next to the villages
      


Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts, (a) shed (b) Old house




      
Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene, (c) store (d) kin




     
You have the money, but if you want to be mean, (vi) Where are they gathered?


(a) in a roadside stand
      
Why keep your money (this crossly) and go along.


(b) in the village
      
Questions


(c) in the city


(i) What do you understand by ‘polished traffic’? (d) in the theatre




(ii) What is meant by ‘out of sorts’? Answers


(iii) Why do the people in the cars feel ‘out of sorts’? (i) The news proclaims that all the poor relatives




(iv) What is up for sale in the roadside stand? of the city people (i.e. the rural people) will be
assembled in the villages, close to the theatre


(a) gallons (b) gas
and the store. They will be looked after by the


  



(c) wild berries (d) quarts
government authorities.


 


(v) Why do the occupants of the old house and the
 
(ii) The poet feels that the so called generous


owners of the shed feel a sense of outrage?


and beneficent politicians will only end up
(vi) Who has the money? exploiting the poor and innocent rural people.


(a) the roadside stand
(iii) (a) poor relatives


(b) the village people


(iv) The poet says that the rural folks might be


(c) the city people


given some facilities and privileges so that


(d) no one
they may not think about their pathetic lives


Answers anymore.
(i) The polished traffic refers to the affluent class
 
(v) (c) store (vi) (b) in the villages


of city people who passed by the roadside stand


on the highway. 4. While greedy good-doers, beneficent beasts of


prey
(ii) ‘Out of sorts’ means to feel unhappy or annoyed
Swarm over their lives enforcing benefits


(or irritated).
      
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That are calculated to soothe them out of their (a) people in the car
     


wits, (b) people on the roadside stand

And by teaching them how to sleep they sleep (c) politicians

     
all day, (d) people at the store

Destroy their sleeping at night the ancient way. (iv) Why are they ‘cross’?
      


Questions (v) ‘gallon of gas’ is a

(i) Who does the poet accuse of having double (a) simile (b) metaphor




  


  
standards and why? (c) pun (d) alliteration

  


(ii) Name the poetic device used in ‘greedy good (vi) What does the country ‘seem to complain’ ?


doers, beneficient beasts of prey.’

Answers
(a) simile (b) metaphor
(i) (c) car


 

(c) alliteration

(ii) The pronoun ‘it’ stands for the car that stopped.



(d) alliteration and oxymoron

It represents the city people in the cars who are


(iii) What is implied by ‘teaching them how to sleep so absorbed in their own lives. They stop at the


they sleep all day’?
roadside stand enquiring if it sold petrol.
(iv) What is the ancient way of sleeping? (iii) (b) people on the roadside stand


(v) The figure of speech in ‘ Swarm over their lives

(iv) The country people who have put up the


enforcing benefits is


roadside stand are angry with the city people
(a) simile (b) metaphor
who stop not to enquire about their wares but




(c) alliteration (d) personification
for frivolous reasons like asking if they had




(vi) Who enforces benefits? petrol.


(a) school (b) teacher (v) (d) alliteration


           


          
(c) politicians (d) village people


(vi) The complaint is that the prosperity of the city


     

Answers


is not seen in the country.
(i) The so-called politicians and the welfare


organizations who claim that they are helping Type II. Tex -Based Ques ons
the poor people are being accused by the poet
t
ti
for their double standards. I. Multiple Choice Questions



(ii) (d) alliteration and oxymoron
1. In the poem, Robert Frost depicts the



(iii) The city people are able to relax and be


miserable condition of the


restful after teaching the rural folks how
 
(a) urban people (b) rural people
to be complacent about their situation. It




implies that as long as the rural people do not (c) slum areas (d) posh areas




understand that they have been exploited, they 2. The little old house had a new shed and was


can be peaceful. situated
(iv) ‘Peacefully sleeping’ is implied here by the poet. (a) near the flyover




(v) (b) metaphor (vi) (c) politicians (b) near the railway station






5. And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of (c) at the edge of the road


(d) in the main city


gas


They couldn’t ( this crossly); they had none, didn’t 3. ‘Pathetically pled’ means


(a) pleading profusely

it see?


No, in country money, the country scale of gain, (b) miserably bleeding


(c) safe and sound

The requisite lift of spirit has never been found,


(d) unsafe from traffic

 
Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,


4. The flow of cash supports the

Questions


(a) city life (b) rural life




(i) Who does another refer to? (c) children of slums (d) rich people


(a) stand (b) shed (c) car (d) road




5. What is marred with ‘artless paint’?


    
     
    


(ii) What is the relevance of the pronoun ‘ it’ ? (a) The house (b) The shed






(iii) Who does ‘ they’ refer to? (c) The landscape (d) The car






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6. Signs of the roadside show the direction of 17. ‘Benefits that are calculated to soothe them




(a) North and South (b) West and East out of their wits’. This is a reference to




(c) South-West (d) South-East (a) awards and rewards

(b) the good acts are meant only for showing




7. The items that are on the roadside stand are

off


(a) wild berries (b) mangoes
(c) life insurance plans




(c) cherries (d) papayas

(d) life long provident plans




8. The golden squash for sale has

18. ‘And by teaching them how to sleep’. Who is




(a) silver warts (b) golden warts teaching and who is being taught?




(c) copper warts (d) aluminium warts (a) The capitalists and politicians teach the






9. ‘You have the money’. Who has the money? county folk


(a) City people (b) Rural people (b) The teacher teaches rural children

(c) The professor teaches college students




(c) Politicians (d) Teachers

(d) The parents teach their young children




10. ‘Hurt to the scenery’ is a reference to

19. Destroy their sleeping. Whose sleep is being


(a) the spoilt roadside (b) spoilt painting

talked about here?




(c) spoilt landscape (a) The urban folk (b) The rural folk



(d) ruins of the house

(c) The small babies (d) Old woman






11. The poetic device used in ‘trusting sorrow’ is 20. Who are the ‘pitiful kin’?




(a) personification (b) metaphor (a) Country cousins who are suffering






(c) simile (d) alliteration (b) Relatives full of pity






12. The roadside stand has been built (c) Politicians who sympathize with country




 
(a) far from the city (b) close to the road people
(d) Relatives who are poor




(c) close to the village


21. ‘Sometimes I feel myself’. Who is ‘I’ in this line?



(d) along the river bank


(a) The rural farmer


13. The party in power refers to the


(b) The city industrialist


(a) ruling government


(c) The poet


(b) opposition


(d) The politician


(c) Tories


22. ‘Childish longing’. What is the longing for?


(d) Ministers of Parliament


(a) Craving for something good to happen


14. What is in the news which the poet mentions?


(b) Longing to sell wares


(a) Deprived relatives should be taught a


(c) Longing to go to the city


lesson


(b) Underprivileged people should be gathered (d) Longing to be successful


23. The sadness that lurks near the open window


to live in villages next to the theatre and


store means
(c) People will be forced to see movies (a) unhappiness when no customer turns up


(b) misfortune about to come


(d) People will be given a lot of loans


(c) the thief hiding behind the open window


15. Who are the greedy good doers according to


(d) the bad weather can be seen outside the


the poet?


window
(a) People who are helpful
24. Who waits all day in open prayer?


(b) People who seek only their selfish interests


(a) The shopkeeper


even when they help others


(c) People who do good deeds (b) The farmer at the roadside stand


(c) The politicians


(d) People who are conceited and arrogant


(d) The city folk


16. Who are the beneficient beasts of prey?


25. ‘Squeal of brakes’. The brakes belong to


(a) Lions


 
(a) a cycle


(b) People who prey on the helplessness of



(b) a speeding car


simple and innocent people


(c) Tigers (c) a motorbike



(d) a racing car on the tracks


(d) Wolves




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26. The poet talks about a lot of cars. How many (c) the urban people continue to ill treat the




cars does he mention, metaphorically? lower strata of society.
(a) Hundred (b) Thousand (d) the free spirited people do not exist.






(c) Two hundred (d) Two thousand 36. ‘voice of the country seems to complain’ means




27. ‘Selfish cars’. The poetic device used is

 
the


 
(a) alliteration (b) metaphor (a) voice of the rural people




(c) simile

(b) voice of the politicians



(d) transferred epithet

(c) voice of the urban elite


28. Why are the cars selfish?

(d) voice of the farmers only


(a) It is only a reference to selfish car owners.

37. Who wants to put the under privileged people


(b) Cars which do not run fast.

out of their pain?


(c) Cars which are not luxury cars.
(a) The political leaders


(d) Cars that meet with accidents.

29. Why does the farmer expect the car to stop? (b) The poet

(a) To ask the prices of the goods in the (c) The mayor of the city

roadside stand. (d) The President of the country

(b) To have a glass of water. 38. ‘As I come back into the sane’. By this the poet




(c) To ask for directions. means


(d) To repair the brakes . (a) when he comes back from the mental




30. The only car that had stopped only to asylum


(a) ask for directions (b) when he views the situation calmly




(b) turn back and turn around (c) when he realizes that he is mad


(c) mend the tyre


(d) when he is able to understand mentally


(d) fill fuel in the tank


retarded people


31. The second car stopped in order to 39. The poet shows the following emotion for the


 
(a) ask for directions


farmers


(b) rest for a while (a) empathy (b) hatred






(c) unload the luggage (c) understanding (d) disgust






(d) check the battery water 40. The poet wants to be put out of his pain




 
32. The third car’s intention was to ask if the (a) angrily (b) pitifully






roadside stand had (c) gently (d) smilingly




(a) a bottle of coke to sell
Answers


(b) a gallon of gas
1. (b) rural people


(c) some fruit juice



2. (c) at the edge of the road


(d) some food to serve to passengers



3. (a) pleading profusely


33. ‘They had none’. What does ‘none’ refer to?



4. (b) rural life


(a) A bottle of wine



5. (c) The landscape


(b) A bottle of juice



6. (a) North and South


(c) A gallon of gas



7. (a) wild berries


(d) A pint of water



8. (a) silver warts


34. ‘In country money’ means



9. (a) City people





(a) money spent for rural upliftment. 10. (c) spoilt landscape


 



(b) money found in village banks. 11. (a) personification





(c) money belonging to country folks. 12. (b) close to the road






(d) money earned by only rural people. 13. (a) ruling government





35. ‘The requisite lift of spirit has never been 14. (b) Underprivileged people should be gathered





found.’ This line means to live in villages next to the theatre and
(a) the rural folks have never got any store


encouragement. 15. (b) People who seek only their selfish interests



(b) the slums were never developed. even when they help others


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16. (b) People who prey on the helplessness of Ans. The ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to





simple and innocent people is the strong desire of the rural folks to be
17. (b) the good acts are meant only for showing off recognized and they wait for the customers to



18. (a) The capitalists and politicians teach the stop by at their stand to buy goods. When they



county folk get no perspective customers, they become sad
19. (b) The rural folk and all their efforts remain futile.



20. (a) Country cousins who are suffering 4. Which lines tell us about the insufferable pain

21. (c) The poet that the poet feels at the thought of the plight
of the rural poor?



22. (b) Longing to sell wares
Ans. The lines that express the feelings of the poet



23. (a) Unhappiness when no customer turns up

are



24. (b) The farmer at the roadside stand
“I can’t help owning the great relief it would



25. (b) a speeding car

       
be



26. (b) Thousand
To put these people at one stroke out of



27. (d) Transferred epithet

        
their pain”.



28. (a) It is only a reference to selfish car owners.
The poet feels the need to remove all the pain



29. (a) To ask the prices of the goods in the roadside

        
from which the poor rural people suffer.



stand.
30. (a) ask for directions 5. Where and how was the roadside stand built

and why?



31. (a) ask for directions
Ans. The roadside stand was built by the rural folk



32. (b) a gallon of gas


on one side of the road. It was a little new shed,



33. (c) a gallon of gas
an extension of an old house. On the busy road,



34. (a) money spent for rural upliftment.
the fast moving traffic would pass in front of



 
35. (a) th e rura l f o lk s ha v e ne v e r go t an y it. The stand had been set up to attract the



encouragement. city folk as customers. The idea was to bring
36. (a) voice of the rural people in some cash after selling the farm produce.



37. (a) The political leaders 6. Describe the value of ‘money’ and ‘cash’ for ‘the





38. (b) when he views the situation calmly flower of cities’.



39. (a) empathy Ans. The flow of money and cash supports the





40. (c) gently development in the big city. It supports the



economy and helps in the progress and also
II. Short Answer Questions
preventing things from getting destroyed. It



1. Which lines bring out the complaining attitude was hoped that the roadside stand would get


of the city folk? What did they complain about? some of the money or the cash to be utilized
Ans. (a) ……then out of sorts for progress of the rural folks.


At having a marred landscape with the artless 7. Why didn’t the ‘city folk’ traffic stop at the

 
roadside stand? What annoyed the people who

paint.
wanted to stop?
(b) Of signs that with N and S turned wrong.
Ans. The polished city folk did not stop at the
        

Their complaint is that the casual and


roadside stand because they were in a rush to
      
distasteful way of painting and the pointers
reach their destinations. If at all they did want
painted in the wrong directions irritate them.
to stop, they would get annoyed at the clumsy
2. What was the plea of the folks who had put paint of the building. They also felt irritated


up the roadside stand? at the signs ‘N’ and ‘S’ turned wrong.
 
Ans. The rural folks pleaded pathetically for some 8. ‘The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my




customers to stop by and buy some of their complaint’, says Robert Frost. What was his
goods. City folks used to pass by on this road real complaint?
and hence the rural folk set up the roadside Ans. The real complaint of the poet Robert Frost
stand to attract their attention and sell their


was the sorrows and sufferings of the rural
goods. folks. The distastefully done paint on the
3. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet shed, the wrongly turned signs did not bother


refers to? Why is it ‘vain’? him. He was more worried about the pitiable

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condition of the poor people and that moved great relief to him if the people are relieved of
his heart. their pain and suffering at one stroke. Their
9. Why do the people who are running the miserable living is no better than death.


roadside stand ‘ask for some city money to feel The poet wants an immediate end to their
in hand’? suffering.
Ans. The people at the roadside stand are poor and
III. Long Answer Question


underprivileged. They do not have enough


cash. They only wish that the city people Q. The poet Robert Frost has all the sympathy

should patronize them and buy some goods for the rural people. Explain.
from them so that they too can earn cash. They Ans. In this poem, Robert Frost speaks on behalf
hope to bring about changes in their lifestyle

of the rural farming community and how the
and make their life prosperous.
urban folks deprive them of their rights and
10. What is the news being spread around?
privileges. The poem focuses on the harsh


Ans. It is in the news that the pitiful kin are to be reality of the American Capital Economy.


bought out and gathered in mercifully. They
The farmers and village folk are sad and
would be settled in villages next to the theatre
depressed at the unequal distribution of funds
and the store. Their places will be taken
over by the rich and the cunning people. The and facilities among the rural and the urban
villagers ‘won’t have to think for themselves people.
anymore’. The greedy and cruel exploiters will The thoughtless city people who don’t even

dominate them. bother to notice the roadside stand that these
11. Who will soothe the rural poor ‘out of their people have put up to sell berries and golden


wits’ and how? squash. They are almost pleading with the
Ans. The greedy people will be the good-doers. people who drive by to make a purchase. The


They will dominate the lives of the poor rural poem begins with the “little new shed” and
folk. They will cunningly try to exploit them. traffic speeding by. The folks at the stand
These people are more cruel than the beasts are hopeful that some of the cash, whose flow
of prey. They only want to earn huge profits supports the cities from sinking and withering
for themselves by exploiting the poor and faint. They pray that some of the money will
innocent people. They will sleep comfortably in be spent on the goods at the stand.
their beds all day but ‘prevent the poor’ from
The use of personal pronoun in the first person
sleeping peacefully.

refers to the country people in the first stanza
 
12. What will be a great relief to the poet? How
and to the poet. In the third and fifth stanza, it


can the problems of the rural poor be solved?
is the representation of the city people. Robert
Ans. The poet, Robert Frost seems to be worried Frost in his typical style takes opposite sides


at the plight of the poor people. It will be a
in the same poem to create a dramatic effect.

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