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A Roadside Stand

The poem depicts a roadside stand run by poor farmers hoping to sell their produce to city dwellers passing by in their cars. They longingly wait all day for someone to stop, but most cars pass indifferently. When some do stop, it is only to ask for directions or gas, not to buy anything. The poet is saddened by the farmers' futile longing for engagement from passersby that could help improve their living standards. Meanwhile, authorities plan to relocate the farmers for political gain, ignoring how this will negatively impact their way of life.

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Janmenjoy Biswal
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153 views32 pages

A Roadside Stand

The poem depicts a roadside stand run by poor farmers hoping to sell their produce to city dwellers passing by in their cars. They longingly wait all day for someone to stop, but most cars pass indifferently. When some do stop, it is only to ask for directions or gas, not to buy anything. The poet is saddened by the farmers' futile longing for engagement from passersby that could help improve their living standards. Meanwhile, authorities plan to relocate the farmers for political gain, ignoring how this will negatively impact their way of life.

Uploaded by

Janmenjoy Biswal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Roadside Stand

By Robert Frost
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsLtSGjaHhQ
They implore and appeal the refined
passersby to stop and buy
something from their shack so that
they also can enjoy some of the
luxuries that the city folks have.
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 city from sinking and withering faint.
These poor people are deprived of the the money and wealth that
makes the city so glamorous. So they crave for some extra income
by selling their goods to the city people. They don’t want just a dole
of bread to sustain their life. They also want to live the life of a city
dweller.
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 wooded 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.
But the refined people in their shiny cars are unmindful of the
poor farmers and show their indifferent attitude. If they stopped,
then they criticised the presence of the shack for blotting the
beauty of the landscape. They express their anger and disgust
when they look at the unimpressive and toppled up signboards.
Indifferent attitude of the citydwellers towards
the roadside stand.
Lines 7-10
Outside, on the road, the traffic was “polished”, which reveals that
the cars that pass are high-class, and belonging to the relatively
rich. They pass by intending to go somewhere else and do not desire
to stop and pay attention to the stalls on their way. However, when
they do pay attention to what is around them, it is not with gratitude
or acceptance. Instead, they lament how the scenery is ruined by
these roadside stands, and see the old, battered signs. They criticize
without remorse, as they do not think about the people who cannot
afford to fix their signs and ignore the product set up for sale.
Wild berries

Crook necked golden squash


The hurt to the scenery wouldn’t be my complaint
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 is said to be keeping from us.
The farmer tells the rich to keep their money if they are meant
to be so cruel and mean. He is not hurt that they do not notice
the stand but he is hurt at the way he is treated and ignored.
He wishes for some city life and money which he has seen in
movies and other media but the political parties are denying
him all these plush life.
the poet converts their ardent desire to handle some city money,
which may perhaps alleviate their sufferings as sometimes
promised in movies. The political party in power actually
deprive them of a prosperous life.
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.
Evacuation and relocation of street vendors
to get vote banks by govt authorities.
Through a calculative strategy, the authorities befool the
innocent villagers and make them unemployed. Thus, in the
ancient way the people used to have a peaceful sleep after a long
day’s work and but now they spend sleepless nights.
The poet quotes the news which highlights the evacuation and relocation of the poor
villagers to the vicinity of the theaters and the shops. Tall promises have been made to
take good care of them. Outraged at the negligent attitude of the civic authorities,
government and even social service agencies, the poet addresses them as "greedy
good-doers" apparently benefactors but actually "beasts of prey" who exploit the
innocent village folk by giving them a short term sense of security, the villagers are not
being helped but harmed.They pay a heavy price by losing their land. These developers,
civic authorities, with a calculative strategy "soothe" (silence) and befool the innocent
villagers. By ensuring them a better life and hence good sleep, they actually sleep
peacefully themselves and destroy their slumber with anxiety. In the ancient way,
people used to work during day and sleep in nights which has been reversed here where
they are not able to sleep at night because they haven’t worked in the day.
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
The poet is upset to see the stand owners waiting for a long time
for their prospective buyers. This seems childish to the poet as
this wait is futile.

There is an atmosphere of sadness


expectations and yearning
in the roadside stand.
What are they
waiting for?

The sound of a
stopping car,

The sound of car


brakes near the
shed
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
And another to ask could they
sell it a gallon of gas
They couldn’t (this crossly); they
had none, didn’t it see?
The ones who stop, they either stop to ask only the price, or to use the
yard to turn in their direction, or to ask the direction of the road.
Sometimes, these people are so unaware of rural life that they ask if
there is a gallon of gas available.
Sometimes the car owners stop to ask if they can get a gallon of
gas. The poet here uses satire to show the sense of alienation
between urban and rural life. They are unaware of the villagers’
plight and condition and are engrossed with the pleasures of
material world.
People of the countryside can
never earn as much as the
people in cities. Hence, they can
never be uplifted and
progressed in their standard of
living.
The poet becomes
overwhelmed with emotions
and wishes to change their
lives at one stroke,
but later thinks logically
and asks the readers for a
solution to the problem.
Transferred Epithet:

1. ‘polished traffic’ referring to the city dwellers who pass by the countryside and
sometimes they take out a moment to scrutinize the surroundings around them.

2. ‘Selfish cars’ is yet another use of a transferred epithet. This refers to the car owners
who do stop at the roadside stand but to ask about the police or the gas stations.

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 and Oxymoron: ‘Greedy good doers’ and ‘beneficent beasts of prey’ are
examples of both alliteration and oxymoron.

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