A Roadside Stand

By Robert Frost

ABOUT THE POEM

The poem, A Roadside Stand, is Robert Frost’s criticism of an unequal society where there is a large division between, the rich and the poor, the haves and the have-nots owing to the iniquitous distribution of wealth. The poem depicts with clarity the plight of the poor and the complex dynamics of their existence. It also so focuses on the unfortunate fact that the unequal progress and development between cities and villages have led to the feeling of distress and unhappiness in the rural people.

POEM’S SUMMARY

The poem “A Roadside Stand”, composed by Robert Frost is about a farmer who puts a little new shed in front of his house on the edge of a road. Several thousands of cars speed past it. He desires to sell wild berries, squash and other products. He does not like charity. He tries to sell his products for money. He believes that money can give him a better lifestyle as he saw in the movies. However, his hopes are never fulfilled. People in cars go past without even giving a cursory look at his stall. And if few of them happen to look at it, they see how the letters N and S had been turned wrong. They believe that such badly painted signs spoil the beauty of the countryside. Nevertheless, a few cars did stop. One of them desired to take a U-turn. It came into the farmer’s yard and spoiled the grass. Another car stopped to know the way. And one of them stopped as it needed petrol, though it was quite evident that the farmer did not sell petrol. The poor village people had little earnings. They have not seen much money. They lead a life of poverty. It is known that some good-doers plan to remove their poverty. They aimed to buy their property on the roadside to build theatres and stores. They plan to shift the villagers into the village huddled together. They wished to teach them the ways that could change their good and healthy habits. They even aimed to teach them to sleep during the daytime. The ‘greedy good-doers and ‘beneficent beasts of prey’ desired to force the benefits on the poor village people and befool them. The poet feels quite miserable at the pitiable sufferings of the poor village folk. He even had a childish desire for all the poor to be done away with at one stroke to end their pain. But he knew that it is childish and vain. So, he desires someone relieves him of his pain by killing him.

Stanza-wise Explanation of the Poem

Stanza 1

“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.”

Word meaning

Sped: the rate at someone or something moves

Dole: a charitable gift of food, clothes or money

Plead: make an emotional appeal

Withering: fade

Faint: lacking conviction or enthusiasm

EXPLANATION

The poem starts with the description of the roadside stand. A small-time farmer who puts a little shed in part of his house several thousands of cars sped past it. He desires to sell wild berries, squash and other products. The farmer does not like charity. He tries to sell his products for money. He believes that money can give him a better lifestyle as he saw in movies.

Stanza 2

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,

Word meaning

Marred: spoiled

Quarts: vessel

Explanation

However, his hopes are never fulfilled. People in cars go past without even giving a cursory look at his stall and if few of them happened to look at it, they see how the letters N and S had been turned wrong. They believe that such badly painted signs spoil the beauty of the countryside.

Stanza 3

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:

Here far from the city, we make our roadside stand

And ask for some city money to feel in the hand

To try if it will not make our expanding,

And give us the life of the moving pictures’ promise

That the party in power is said to be keeping from us.

word meaning

moving pictures: movies

Explanation

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 this plush life.

Stanza 4

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.

Word meaning

Beneficent: charitable or do-gooders

Explanation

It is known that some good-doers plan to remove their poverty. They aimed to buy their property on the roadside to build theatres and stores. Good-doers plan to shift the villagers into the village huddled together. They wished to teach them the ways that could change their good and healthy habits. They even aimed to teach them to sleep during the daytime. The greedy good doers and beneficent beasts of prey desire to force the benefits on the poor village people and befool them.

Stanza 5

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,

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 if could they sell a gallon of gas

They couldn’t (this crossly); they had none, didn’t it see?

Word meaning

Longing: a yearning desire

Lurks: be or remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for someone or something

Squeal: long, high–pitched cry or noise

Plow up: move in a fast and uncontrolled manner

Explanation

Frost talks about his own personal feelings. He is intolerable towards the farmer’s battered hopes. The windows of the farmer’s house just ache to hear the sound of a car stopping to make some purchase. However, they are always disappointed as the cars stop either to enquire about the police or about the gas stations

Stanza 6

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.

And then the 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.

Word meaning

Requisite: a thing that is necessary for the achievement of a specified end

Stroke: moving your hand slowly and gently over something or someone

Explanation

The poet feels quite discrete at the pitiable sufferings of the poor village folk. He even had a childish desire for all the poor to be done away with at one stroke to end their pain. But he knew that it is childish and vain. So he desired someone relieves him of his pain by killing him.

Poem’s analysis

Form (structure or pattern) of the poem – The poem has 56 lines divided in 6 Stanzas.

Style (literary elements used by the poet) of the poem – The poem is written in a rhyme scheme of ABAB.

Tone (the poet’s or reader’s attitude towards the subject) of the poem – The poem has a sympathetic tone.

Poetic Devices

Metaphor – A figure of speech that directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. From the poem:

“Trusting Sorrow”

Alliteration – The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. From the poem:

“Greedy good-doers”

“Beneficent Beasts”

Personification – A literary tool where you assign the qualities of a person to something that isn’t human. From the poem:

“A roadside stand that too pathetically pled”

Transferred Epithet – A figure of speech in which the syntactic relationship between two terms is interchanged. From the poem:

“Polished Traffic”

“Selfish cars”

Oxymoron – A figure of speech containing words that seem to contradict each other. From the poem:

“Greedy good-doers”

“Beneficent Beasts

Poem-5

A Roadside Stand

By Robert Frost

A Roadside Stand Poem Introduction

A Roadside Stand is Robert Frost's criticism of an unequal society in which there is a large divide between the rich and the poor, the haves and the have nots due to inequitable wealth distribution. The poem depicts the plight of the poor and the complex dynamics of their existence with clarity. It also emphasises the unfortunate fact that unequal progress and development between cities and villages has resulted in a sense of distress and unhappiness among rural people.

A Roadside Stand Poem Summary

'A Roadside Stand' depicts poor country people whose sincere desire is to rise above their plight. They try to do this by setting up roadside stands and selling whatever they can to make ends meet. However, city dwellers simply speed by in their cars and do not notice them, and when they do, it is with annoyance that they have ruined the natural landscape with their poorly written signs. Frost captures the country people's rage at the selfishness of city dwellers, for all they want is to achieve the standard promised to them in movies, but which they believe is being denied to them by the current government.

They do not want charity, and the poet makes it clear that the donors are ruining their lives by labelling these ostensibly charitable people as greedy and beasts of prey. They relocate them to the countryside, close to theatres and shops, and encourage them to live idle lives, stealing them of their peace and wits. The poet is moved to tears when he sees the country people's intense longing for a better life and their sadness at the unfulfilled dreams when not a single car stops to inquire about the goods they are selling. The city dwellers are portrayed as being consumed by their own lives, with no regard for others.

The poem depicts the heartlessness of city dwellers through the poet's insane desire to end the country people so that they can be relieved of their complaints about the lack of upliftment in their lives. The poem concludes with the poet's remorse for these feelings, realising how he would feel if someone tried to end his pain in the same way.

A Roadside Stand Poem Explanation

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.

The description of the roadside stand is the first line of the poem. Thousands of cars sped past a small-time farmer who built a small shed in part of his house. He wants to sell wild berries, squash, and other items. The farmer is not fond of charity. He tries to make money by selling his products. He believes that money can provide him with a better lifestyle, as he has seen in movies.

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,

His hopes, however, are never realised. People in cars drive by without even looking at his stall, and if a few of them do, they notice how the letters N and S have been reversed. They believe that such poorly painted signs distract people from the natural beauty of the countryside.

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:
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.

The farmer tells the wealthy to keep their money if they are to be so cruel and mean. He isn't bothered that they don't notice the stand, but he is bothered by how he is treated and ignored. He wishes for the city life and money he sees in movies and other media, but political parties deny him all of these luxuries.

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.

It is well known that some good people intend to eliminate their poverty. They intended to purchase property along the roadside in order to construct theatres and stores. Good deeds plan to move the villagers into the huddled village. They wished to teach them how to change their bad habits into good ones. They even intended to teach them to sleep during the day. The greedy good doers and beneficent beasts of prey want to trick and fool the poor village people.

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,
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?

Frost expresses his own personal feelings. He is intolerable when it comes to the farmer's battered hopes. The farmer's house's windows ache to hear the sound of a car stopping to make a purchase. They are always disappointed, however, because cars stop to inquire about the police or gas stations.

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.
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.

The poet is oblivious to the pitiful plight of the poor village folk. He even had a childish desire to eliminate all the poor in one stroke, thereby putting an end to their suffering. But he was well aware that it was childish and vain. As a result, he desired that someone relieve him of his suffering by killing him.

About the Poet

Robert Lee Frost was born in San Francisco, California on March 26, 1874. He was a well-known and well-respected American poet of the twentieth century. The majority of his work was published in both England and America. He is still remembered for his realistic portrayals of rural life and command of colloquial speech. In the early twentieth century, the majority of his work focused on rural life in New England, which he used to investigate complex social and philosophical issues.