A Roadside Stand | English Core | Class 12
Updated: Feb 17
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Author Biography /Robert Frost (1874-1963)
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 rural people with the deepest sympathy and humanity.
Theme:
The poem conveys to us the distrust of city-dwellers by the poet.
They are extremely selfish and have no community feeling.
City-dwellers lack compassion and concern towards their village counterparts.
Frost wants all human beings to cultivate the value of fellow-feeling and empathy.
Disparity between the rich & the poet must be addressed.
The economic well being of a country depends on balanced development of villages and the cities.
Stanza-wise Explanation
(Lines 1-6)
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
The flower of cities from sinking and withering faint.
Vocabulary:
•Out with – extended
•traffic sped – Vehicles move speedily.
•pathetically pled: A roadside shop is pleading for some cash. ( Personification)
• dole of bread: for a living.
•flower of cities: extra cash flow that helps cities to flourish.
•sinking and withering faint: Cash flow that supports city business and prevents it from any business failure.
Note: Flower of Cities: In the last line the phrase ‘Flower of Cities’ is a metaphor. Just as flowers are kept from withering with extra care, similarly extra cash flow helps cities to flourish. So flower of cities meansthe growth of city business.
Paraphrase:
The little old house, the roadside stand, existed on the roadside to make a living out of the city money. The owners of the roadside stand expected to attract the rich city men by extending the shed closer to the road.
The sole expectation of the roadside people is the flow of city-money into their hands. But their expectations are never fulfilled as the city-going people are not kind enough to stop for a while to buy their produce. Hence a pathetic existence for the roadside stand.||
The roadside owners of the shed do not want just bread or the basic amenities of life but a source of alternate income to liberate them from their hand-to-mouth existence.
(Lines 7-13)
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 ||
Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts,
Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts,
Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene,
Vocabulary:
polished traffic–
The so-called refined city-going people.
with a mind ahead :
Their minds were restless with greed for money.
Out of sorts:
city people feel uneasy as they think presence of roadside shed mars the beauty of landscape.
Signs with S turned wrong and N turned wrong:
The owner of the stand being illiterate has erected the board with wrong spelling with S and N inverted.
beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene :
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.
Paraphrase:
The city people who passed by the roadside stand were busy with their own thoughts for earning profit in their business and were not kind enough to stop their vehicles and buy the products of the roadside shops.
The city-going people if ever they stop for a moment, they complain that the roadside stand, with its artless paint, ruined the beauty of nature. ||
Another complaint is that the letters like ‘N’ and ‘S’ of the sign posts are wrongly written.
The owner of the roadside shop being illiterate, has erected the signpost with S and N inverted. ||
The articles for sale at the roadside stand are Wild berries in wooden containers, crook-necked golden squash with silver warts and paintings of mountain scenery which are for sale at the roadside stand.
LINES 14-17
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 ||
So much as the trusting sorrow of what is unsaid. ||
Vocabulary:
Crossly: angrily.
trusting sorrow : sorrow due to fake promises made by the rich people.
Paraphrase:
Being angry at the indifferent attitude of the so-called ‘polished traffic‘, the poet asks them to move ahead without noticing the road-side stand.
The poet further regrets that the damage caused by roadside people to nature as claimed by city-dwellers is not a serious concern. ||
But what is serious and matter of concern is the sorrow resulting out of the fake promises by city-dwellers to buy the products of roadside shops.
They hardly stop to buy and therefore, the economical status of the poor people remain where it is. This is what is the meaning of ‘trusting sorrow of what is unsaid.’
Lines (18-22)
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. ||
Vocabulary:
if it will not make our being expand : extra inflow of cash would improve the financial status of the poor villagers.
life of the moving-pictures : Standard lifestyles as shown in movies.
party in power : Ruling political party.
Paraphrase:
The village people ask for some city cash because they want to feel it in hand ||
and want to try if that generosity from city-people in buying their products would enable them to make financial progress. ||
The poor villagers have opened the roadside shops with expectations that their products would bring them some cash and bring about some improvement in their lifestyles as are shown on some movies.
The poet further says that political parties have not yet provided the lifestyles that they promised to the people of villages while seeking votes.
Village people are merely used as vote banks and therefore become victims of false promises.
Lines (23-26)
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,
Vocabulary:
Pitiful Kin: Here the village people.
to be bought out and mercifully gathered: Poor people were given assurance to live in village next to theater and multiplexes etc.
Paraphrase
The poet highlights the news that all these pitiful farmers are to be bought out and gathered in to live in villages where theatres , stores , malls , multiplexes shall come up. In that case, they will not have worries of life.
The so called civic authorities assured the village folk that their economic status would improve once they live near the theaters, multiplexes etc.
These fake promises are just an illusion for the poor rural people.
Lines (27-31)
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.
Vocabulary:
good-doers: Apparent benefactors.
beasts of prey: Here authorities who claim to give them benefits.
out of their wits: they claim themselves brilliant.
ancient way. In the old way.
Paraphrase:
Greedy good-doers and beasts of prey are the civic authorities who exploit the innocent village folk by giving them a short term sense of security.
They swarm over their lives These unprincipled people shall proclaim to provide these farmer various facilities. ||
But in reality they will destroy their sleep and make their lives a living hell by snatching those material things from the rural people.
Lines 32-37
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,
Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass.. ||
Vocabulary:
1.childish longing in vain: village people’s futile expectations for city money.
2.sadness that lurks: Suffering that lies in waiting for a customer to appear. .
3.selfish cars: Because city-goers don’t stop to buy products of roadside shops.
Paraphrase:
The poet says that he can hardly bear the endless wait of the village folks for prospective customers from the city.
The poor people’s futile expectation for the city money has been compared to children’s longing for things beyond their reach. ||
In the phrase ‘sadness that lurks’ sadness has been personified as it lies in wait near the open window praying for a city customer to arrive and enquire the price of the village people’s products.
Lines 38-43
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;
And another to ask could they sell it a gallon of gas ||
They couldn’t (this crossly); they had none, didn’t it see? ||
Vocabulary:
1. plow up grass: While taking reverse gear and turning vehicles or to ask for directions, city goers plow up a cloud of grass.
2. gallon of gas : fuel for the city vehicles.
3. they had none: Village people did not have fuel for vehicles to sell.
Paraphrase:
If any city-goer ever stops at the roadside stand, it is either to reverse his car, to ask for directions or to ask if he could buy fuel for his car. ||
they had none: Village people did not have fuel for vehicles to sell.
With every passing selfish car that stops, the farmer’s hope rises, only to be disappointed.
None of them seems to be considerate enough to buy the products from roadside stand. This makes the village folk at the roadside stand cross (angry).
Lines 44-48
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. ||
I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.
VOCABULARY:
country scale of gain: Required quantity of money falls short.
requisite lift of spirit: Money is considered a catalyst to raise spirit of village folk.
voice of the country: Here the demand of village folk.
Paraphrase:
Country money is the small income that the poor village folks make. It cannot be compared to the affluence of the rich in cities
Village people estimate their economic growth by means of the small profit at hand.(country scale of gain)
With such a meagre( small) income and small profit earned, village people could never experience ‘lift of spirit’ as small income can never give additional lift to one’s spirit. ||
The poet wishes to lift the poor people out of their pain, poverty and endless miseries. But as the reality is different, he is sad and thinks that death at one stroke can end all their grief and suffering.
Lines 49-51
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.
VOCABULARY:
1. into the sane: As I come to my senses.
2. out of my pain: The poet’s pain is that the poor people are still waiting for the rich people’s generosity and that the rich people never help the poor people. He is also sad that his insane dreams of the poor people helped by a stroke were only dreams.
Paraphrase:
But next morning when he came to senses, he realized that his earlier thought of death being the only solution to come out poverty is useless and decided that govt/civic bodies can only uplift the miserable condition of the village folks.
The poet’s pain is the yawning(huge) gap between the rich and the poor.
The poet appeals to party in power to relieve these farmers out of their pains.
Recapitulation:
The poem is about roadside temporary sheds that come up on both sides of the national or state highways.
They serve the road users with food and other items.
The poem depicts Robert Frost’s scathing criticism of unequal society where there is a huge division between the rich and the poor owing to unequal distribution of wealth.
The poem draws our attention towards lives of these poor people and our sympathy towards them.
The poem thus highlights the government apathy towards the economic plight of these rural people.
Literary Devices
NCERT Solution:
Think it out ( Page 102)
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 city folks did not stop their vehicles at these new sheds to show some interest for these rural folks. Their complaining attitude is reflected in 'the polished traffic passed with a mind ahead.'' Their implied complaint is seen in the landscape being marred with signs like N or S turned wrong.
2. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand?
Ans: The plea of the folks was that 'the party in power' did not pay any attention to their pathetic plights. They needed the money in cash which would bring miracles in their lives. The city dwellers do not stop on the highway while racing past their village.
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 following are the words and phrases that the poet uses to show double standards from government and social service agencies....
(i) the party in power is said to be keeping from us.'
(ii) beneficent beasts of prey/swarm over their lives.
(iii) to soothe them out of their wits.
(iv) Destroy their sleeping....
4. What is the ‘childish longing’ that the poet refers to? Why is it ‘vain’?
The childish longing of the poet is that these city folks shall stop their vehicles near these newly extended little sheds and buy some things. That will generate some income for these village folks. But it is all 'vain' as they do not stop and simply pass ahead.
5. Which lines tell us about the insufferable pain that the poet feels at the thought of the plight of the rural poor?
Ans: The following lines point to the insufferable pain of the poet at the thought of the plight of the rural poor.
I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.
The poet’s pain is that the poor people are still waiting for the rich people’s generosity and that the rich people never help the poor people. He is also sad that his insane dreams of the poor people helped by a stroke were only dreams.
CBE-Based Questions
Q1. Choose the option that correctly categorises the given literary devices as per the given analogy.
selfish cars : _____ :: _________metaphor
(a) personification; polished traffic
(b) transferred epithet; trusting sorrow
(c) metaphor; pitiful kin
(d) oxymoron; greedy good-doers [CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Q2. ‘I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.’
The tone of the poem by the end, as depicted by the given lines is:
(a) frustrated.
(b) commanding.
(c) introspective.
(d) emotional. [CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Q3. Choose the quote that best describes the poet’s attitude to humanity:
(a) Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive. —The Dalai Lama
(b) Faith in god necessarily implies a lack of faith in humanity. —Barbara G. Walker
(c) We cannot despair of humanity since we ourselves are human. —Albert Einstein
(d) We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. —Charlie Chaplin
Q4. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
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,
(A) Why does the poet call the farmers’ longing ‘childish’?
(a) Because it sounds like a childish thing to do.
(b) Because it has an obsessive quality to it.
(c) Because the farmers have children who worry.
(d) Because the farmers are worried like children.
(B) Why does the poet say ‘Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear’?
(a) Because the poet observes the farmers’ plight.
(b) Because he knew the roadside stand farmer.
(c) Because he has relatives who are farmers.
(d) Because he empathises with the farmers.
(C) Which poetic device is used in ‘The sadness that lurks near the open window there’?
(a) Personification
(b) Transferred epithet
(c) Satire
(d) Metaphor
(D) Which of the following words from the extract mean ‘screech’?
(a) Longing
(b) Sadness
(c) Brakes
(d) Squeal
(D) (d) Squeal
Q5. Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:
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;
(A) Which poetic device is used in this line ‘Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass’?
(a) Oxymoron
(b) Personification
(c) Transferred epithet
(d) Symbol
Ans: (c) Transferred epithet
Explanation: Cars cannot be selfish. The adjective refers to the people inside the car. It has been transferred from the people to the car. The figure of speech in which the epithet is transferred from one noun to modify another is called transferred epithet. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.
(B) The phrase ‘Just one’ refers to .................... passing by.
(a) one car
(b) one farmer
(c) one poet
(d) one official
Ans: (a) one car
Explanation: The phrase ‘just one’ refers to a passing car. Hence, option (a) is the correct answer. Options (b), (c) and (d) are not the people passing by the roadside shed. So, they are incorrect.
(C) Choose the meaning of the phrase ‘to plow up grass’:
(a) To plant a neat surface of grass
(b) To turn over the grass surface
(c) To cut the grass neatly with a plow
(d) To apply fertiliser to the grass.
Ans: (b) To turn over the grass surface
Explanation: To plow up the grass means to turn over the surface of the ground on which grass grows using a plow. Here, the car does the work of a plow. Therefore, option (b) is the correct answer.
Q6. 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) Which poetic device is used in ‘trusting sorrow’?
(a) Metaphor (b) Alliteration (c) Assonance (d) Transferred epithet
Ans: (a) Metaphor
Explanation: ‘Trusting sorrow’ is a metaphor where the rural folk trusted the city folk to buy their produce, but they didn’t, making the rural folk sorrowful. This points to option (a) as the correct answer. Options (b), (c) and (d) are not the devices used in the line. Hence, these options are incorrect.
(B) Which point of view does the poet use in this extract?
(a) First person singular
(b) First person plural
(c) Second person plural
(d) Third person singular
Ans: (b) First person plural
Explanation: The poet uses ‘we’ and ‘our’ which indicates that it is the first-person plural point of view used. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer. Options (a), (c) and (d) cannot be inferred from the poem or these lines. Thus, they are incorrect.
(c) What can be inferred to be the promise of the ‘moving-pictures’?
(a) A life of extremes.
(b) A hard and difficult life.
(c) A good and easy life.
(d) A life of glamour.
Ans: (c) A good and easy life.
Explanation: It can be inferred that the promise of the moving-pictures is a good and easy life. Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer. Evidence for options (a), (b) and (d) cannot be found in the poem. Hence, they are not the correct answer.
(D) What is the satire in the line: ‘That the party in power is said to be keeping from us’?
(a) The poet demands that the party in power release the funds allocated.
(b) The poet praises the government for implementing the idea of relocation.
(c) The poet rebukes the government for ignoring their promised prosperity.
(d) The poet lists the problems that comes from following the people in power.
Ans: (c) The poet rebukes the government for ignoring their promised prosperity.
Explanation: Satire is a type of social commentary in which writers use exaggeration, irony and other devices to mock a leader, a social custom or tradition. The poet uses light satire here in rebuking the ruling party/government in their country for ignoring the plight of the roadside stand farmers. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer. Options (a), (b) and (d) are not the explanation that can be inferred from the context. Hence, they are not the correct answers.
Answer Key
Q1.
Ans. (b) transferred epithet; trusting sorrow
Explanation:
‘Selfish cars’ is a transferred epithet while ‘trusting sorrow’ is a metaphor. This points to option (b) as the correct answer.
Options (a), (c) and (d) do not match the phrases with the correct literary devices. Hence, they are not the correct answers.
Q2 .Ans. (d) emotional.
Explanation:
The poet starts off on an outraged tone but ends on an emotional one. This points to option (d) as the correct answer.
Options (a), (b) and (c) are not the tone at the end of the poem so, they are incorrect.
Q3.
Answer:
(d) We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. —Charlie Chaplin
Explanation :
All the quotes talk about humanity but only one talks about having a feeling for humanity. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
Options (a), (b) and (c) do not describe the poet’s view of humanity accurately. Thus, they are not the correct answer.
Q4. (a) Ans: (b) Because it has an obsessive quality to it.
Explanation:
The poet calls the farmers’ longing ‘childish’ because they are obsessed by making some extra ‘city money’. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
Options (a), (c) and (d) are not correct as they cannot be inferred accurately from the context.
Q4. (b)
Answer: (d) Because he empathizes with the farmers.
Explanation:
The poet is moved because he has deeply empathised with the farmers’ plight not merely observed or being acquainted with it or being related to the farmers. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
Options (a), (b) and (c) are incorrect as they do not accurately indicate the depth of feeling that the poet feels.
Q4 (C)
Answer: (a) Personification
Explanation:
‘Sadness’ is an inanimate quality but is shown to be ‘lurking’, a distinctly human thing to do. The attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects is called personification. Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.
Options (b), (c) and (d) are incorrect since they are not the devices used in this line.
Q4. (d)
Explanation:
‘Squeal’ is a synonym of ‘screech’. Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
Options (a), (b) and (c) are not correct since they do not have the same meaning. So, they are not the correct answer.
Recommended Reading:
CBSE Board Previous year Questions
Q1. What are the probable causes of the passing cars to stop near the roadside stand? [CBSE 2020]
Ans. In ‘A Roadside Stand’ by Robert Frost, the poet lists three probable causes why the people in the ‘selfish cars’ stop by the roadside stand. One was to enquire about the price; another was to ask for directions; and a third asked if they sold gas. None of the probable causes was about the real reason the stand was there in the first place, which was to sell the produce.
Q2. Though money holds the same value everywhere, the poet draws a distinction between city money and country money. Elaborate. [CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Ans. According to Robert Frost, city money has more value than country money. The phrases in the poem ‘in country money, the country scale of gain’ illustrates this concept This means the profits in the country are of less value than profits in the city. The farmers also wait in vain for some ‘city money’ to augment their earnings.
Q3. The roadside stand and the moving cars are a contrast around which the entire poem is woven. Expound. [CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Ans. Indeed, the farmers in the stationary roadside stand wait for the moving cars to stop and buy their fruits and vegetables all through the poem. The roadside stand symbolises rural folk, who are in desperate help from the city people who pass through in the moving cars. Therefore, the moving cars here symbolises the city people. The poem is woven around this contrast and contradiction.
Q4. Does the poet reach a conclusive solution for the issue at hand? Discuss. [CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Ans. No, the poet does not reach any conclusion about the farmers’ problems. The Poet thinks that govt/civic bodies can only uplift the miserable condition of the village folks. The poet’s pain is the yawning(huge) gap between the rich and the poor. The poet appeals to party in power to relieve these farmers out of their pains.
Q5. Comment on the significance of the symbol of the car in the poem. [CBSE Question Bank 2021]
Ans. In Robert Frost’s poem ‘A Roadside Stand’, cars were described as ‘polished’ and ‘selfish’. They are associated with urban prosperity. With cars, people can move around. Hence, they are symbols of prosperity and wealth.
Note: Read this stanza in the poem ( Selfish Cars)
Read Polished Traffic Stanza here ( Polished Traffic)
Extra Questions
1. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stands?
Ans: The little shed was added to the old house to accommodate the selling of the farm produce by the farmers. The folks were poor. They wanted to have some money in their hands. It was to pull on with life and to make some sort of economic progress.
2. What 'promises' does the government or the party in power hold for these 'pitiful kin' that is in the news?
Ans: It is in the news that these pitiful kin shall live in villages. Theatres, stories, malls, multiplexes etc shall be built for them. Living there they won't have to worry about anything and shall lead contented lives.
3. What is the poet's 'open prayer' for these village folks? What actually happened? What ,ade the poet feel about this longing?
Ans: The poet's 'open prayer' is that the road users shall stop their cars and inquire about the farmers' prices to buy some things. But none stopped and this made the poet feel sad about his 'longing' that things would be bought by them.
4. what would be the great relief for the poet in the context of the village folks?
Ans The poet says that he would be happy to own the great relief if the pains of the village folks are removed at one one stroke only. The poet wishes to lift the poor people out of their pain, poverty and endless miseries. But as the reality is different, he is sad and thinks that death at one stroke can end all their grief and suffering. However, he appeals to party in power to relieve these farmers out of their pains.
5. How did the village folks mar the landscapes as claimed by the city-dwellers?
Ans: The city-going people if ever they stop for a moment, they complain that the roadside stand, with its artless paint, ruined the beauty of nature. Another complaint is that the letters like ‘N’ and ‘S’ of the sign posts are wrongly written. The owner of the roadside shop being illiterate, has erected the signpost with S and N inverted.
For the part I of Concept Video of this poem, CLICK Here
For the part II of Concept Video of this poem, CLICK Here
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