POEM: 5
The Roadside Stand Robert
Frost
INTERPRETATION
& ANALYSIS
In this
poem Frost presents the lives of poor deprived people with pitiless clarity
and with the deepest sympathy and humanity.
The poet says that sub-urban people wish to get some city money but
they don’t. The politicians befool them making fake promises. It seems that
only death can provide them relief.
The poet
says that the roadside people append a shed to their houses near the road. It
seems to be pleading to the passers-by. But they don’t expect any alms. They
have self-esteem and they want the passers-by to purchase something from them
so that they can have some money. This is the only way for them to survive.
But the so-called refined people don’t caste even a glance at them and if, by
chance, they do, it is not to purchase anything from them but because they
get upset that the poor people have spoiled the beauty of nature with their
wrongly painted sign-boards, sitting for selling squash or berries in wooden
containers or they pause to enjoy the beauty of landscape. The poor people
are ruffled by this attitude of the city people and they feel that even after
having money if they want to be so cheap, they can keep their money.
The poet
says, he doesn’t complain of the scenery spoiled by them rather he is more
concerned about their sorrow which lies in their heart. They make their stand
in the hope of getting some city money thinking they would also be able to
have a better life as shown in the movies which the party in power promised
but didn’t fulfill.There is a rumour that all such people will be
rehabilitated in some village and provided with all the facilities like
theatre and store. They are convinced that there they won’t have to think
about anything and everything would be showered upon them. The greedy people
hover over them showing them to be their well-wishers but whatever they do,
they do it to befool and trap them. Thus they assure the poor of an easy and
cozy life but they snatch away all their ease and comfort.
|
Frost feels
it intolerable when he finds the poor suburban people longing uselessly for
the passers-by to stop and enquire about the prices of the things that they
have. The sadness lingering on their faces praying all day to hear a squeal
of brakes pains the poet. Though the passers-by do stop yet it is not to
purchase anything from them but just to take a turn or to ask where the road
is bound for or to ask for a gallon of gas. This irritates them who wait for
the passers-by with a lot of hope.
In the last
stanza the poet says that it is quite difficult for the poor sub-urban people
to have a prosperous life without any flow of money from the city people
because the country money revolving in the country cannot uplift their lives
and without prosperity there cannot be any enthusiasm in life. The poet feels
that perhaps only death can relieve them from their grief but when in his
senses, he feels that he would like them to tell him that they are now out of
pain and this in turn would relieve all the pain of the poet.
|
GLOSSARY
Pathetically - Pitiably, Miserably
Polished -
Refined, Sophisticated
Squash - A vegetable
Warts - Growth, Tumour
Quarts - Bottles, Containers
Swarm - Flood, Flock
Beneficent - Kind, Charitable
Prey - An animal hunted for food, Victim
Soothe - Comfort, Placate
Lurks - Hang around, Sneak
Squeal - Screech, Scream
Plow up - Pull up
SHORT
ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
1. What do you understand by “polished
traffic”?
Ans: “Polished
traffic” here refers to the city folk who think of themselves as refined people
and the country dwellers as ignorant fools.
2. What is meant by ‘out of sorts’? Why do the people in the cars
feel ‘out of sorts’?
Ans: ‘Out of sorts’ means to feel unhappy or
annoyed. The people in the cars feel out of sorts because they do not like
the badly painted sign boards and the people sitting with their wooden
containers appear to be spoiling the beauty of landscape.
3. What is up for sale in the roadside stand?
Ans: The people are selling wild berries in wooden containers and
crook-necked golden squash with silver warts.
4. Why do the owners
of the shed feel a sense of outrage?
Ans: The owners of the shed feel a sense of outrage because the city
folk are only critical; they don’t understand their difficult situation and
when it comes to spending money, they go ahead with their head held high
without purchasing anything.
5. What is the plea
of the folks at the roadside stand?
Ans: The rural folks seem to be requesting
the passers-by to stop at their stand and purchase something from them so that
they can also have some city money in their hands to improve their lives.
6. 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 gas or pull up the grass.
7. Where is the
roadside stand built and why?
Ans: The roadside stand is
built by the rural folk on the side of the road with a shed appended to their
house. It is built to attract the passers-by with the hope of getting some city
money by selling fruits and vegetables.
8. Who is ‘the flower
of cities’? Why have they been referred so?
Ans: The countryside
people have been referred to as ‘the flower of cities’. They have been referred
so because their lives are dependent on the city money. They live on the
roadsides and their prosperity and hardships depends on the money they get from
the passers-by.
9. ‘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.
10. What is the news
being spread around?
Ans: The news is that the poor countryside people will be evicted 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.
11. 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.
12. What will be a great relief to the poet? How can the problems
of the rural poor be solved?
Ans: The poet, Robert Frost
seems to be worried at the plight of the poor people. It will be a great relief
to him if the people are relieved of their pain and suffering at one stroke.
Their miserable living is no better than death. The poet wants an immediate end
to their suffering.
13. What
would not be fair to say?
Ans: It
would not be fair to say that the poor countryside people demand some alms.
They have self-respect and they only want the passers-by to purchase something
from them.
14. Who
does the poet accuse of having double standards?
Ans: The
poet accuses the politicians and welfare organizations of having double
standards. They show themselves to be the well-wishers of the poor. But they
serve their own interests using the poor.
15. Name the poetic device used in ‘greedy
good doers, beneficent beasts of prey’.
Ans: The
poet has used oxymoron in these phrases. The word pairs having contrasting
meaning are called oxymoron.
16. Name
the poetic device in “the flower of cities.”
Ans: The
poetic device used in this phrase is metaphor. The poet has made a direct
comparison between the countryside people and the flower of cities.
17. What is implied by ‘teaching them how to
sleep they sleep all day’?
Ans: The
poet means that the greedy politicians befool the poor countryside people. They
shower benefits upon the poor people and convince them that they won’t have to
worry anymore and all their problems will be taken care for. But as soon as
they show faith, they are trapped.
18. “Destroy
their sleep the ancient way” Explain.
Ans: The
greedy politicians take the poor into confidence and convince them that they
don’t have to worry anymore and all
their needs will be taken care of. When they are convinced, they start
exploiting them.
