A Roadside Stand

Theme
The poem shows the existing divide between the rich and the poor in the society.
In ‘A Roadside Stand’, the poet Robert Frost describes the miserable condition of the people living in the
countryside. The city people who drive through the countryside hardly stop at the roadside stand nor do
they care for the people who run it. If at all they do stop, they do so to criticise the place and the people.He
expresses his pain at their sadness and sorrow and seeks support and relief for them. He hopes someone
would work selflessly for their rehabilitation and not exploit them. He brings out the wide disparity
between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ with pitiless clarity and humanity and seems to suggest that the
economic well being of a country depends on a balanced development of villages and cities.

Q 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?
Ans. The lines that indicate this are as follows-
Or if ever aside a moment, then out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint
They complained about the shabby paint on the walls of the shed that has spoiled the beauty of the
landscape.

Q2-What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand ?
Ans. They wanted that the rich people who passed from there in their cars should stop
there and buy some goods from them. The money that these folks would earn from
the rich people would help them to lead a better life.

Q 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.
Ans-The poet calls them as “beneficent beasts of prey” and “greedy good-doers”, who “swarm over their
lives”
Q 4-What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it ‘vain’?
Ans. The „childish longing‟ that the poet refers to is the strong desire of the rural folks that the passers-by
should stop at their stand and purchase something from them so that they can also have a flow of money. It
is in vain because the city folk don‟t stop and even if they stop it is not to purchase anything from them but
to ask the route or availability of gas.

Q 5-What is the news being spread around?

Ans: The news is that the poor countryside people will be shifted from the place where they
are living and will be rehabilitated in some village. They will be provided the facilities such as theatre and
store. All their problems will be solved and they will not have to think about
anything.

Q 6-Who will soothe the rural poor ‘’out of their wits‟ and how?
Ans: The greedy people who pose themselves to be the well-wishers and beneficent will
soothe the rural poor „out of their wits‟. They will hover over them showering all the benefits to
convince them that they mean well for them. But ultimately they will make a fool of them.

Q 7. What news in the poem ‘A Roadside Stand’ is making its round in the village?
Answer: The news making its round is about the resettlement of the poor, rural people who
will be resettled in the villages, next to the theatre and the store. They would be close to the cities and will
not have to worry about themselves any more.
Q 8. Why does Robert Frost sympathise with the rural poor?
Ans-Robert Frost feels an unbearable agony at the plight of the rural poor who are ignored and neglected by
the rich. The Government and the party in power are indifferent to their welfare. They fool them by making
false promises and then fully exploit them to suit their own selfish interests.

Q 9. What does the polished traffic mean?

Ans. It refers to the rich city people travelling in big, expensive cars. They appear to be polished outside but
their minds do not understand the sufferings of the poor.

Q 10. What do you understand when the poet says that the trusting sorrow of the poor people is ‘unsaid?’
Ans-The poor people place their trust in the fake promises of the rich people and the ruling parties and
consequently become sorrowful. The poet complains that this sorrow of the poor people has not been
brought to the serious concern of the concerned authorities, media and the public.

Q 11.„The hurt to the scenery wouldn‟t be my complaint‟, says Robert Frost. What is his real complaint?
Ans: The real complaint of the poet is the sorrows and sufferings of the rural folks. The distastefully painted
and wrongly turned signboards do not bother him. He is more worried about the pitiable condition of the
poor people who long for city money.

Poetic Devices: The rhyme scheme of the poem is abab.

Transferred-Epithet:
1. „polished traffic‟ - expensive cars
2. „Selfish cars‟ This refers to the selfish car owners

Repitition-The little old house was out with a little new shed
Metaphor-The flower of cities and trusting sorrow
Personification:
“the sadness that lurks behind the open window there…” where sadness is an example of
personification. Sadness dwells in the windows of the farmers because they wait for cars to stop
and make a purchase.
Alliteration-pathetically pled
Alliteration and Oxymoron: ‘’Greedy good doers‟ and „beneficent beasts of prey‟ are
examples of both alliteration and oxymoron.