P-5 A Roadside Stand

Class XII Mind Map
Poem 6 A ROADSIDE STAND
THEME: Poetic Devices

The poem A Roadside Stand depicts the Transferred Epithet: Polished traffic, Selfish
lives of the rural poor. Robert Frost is cars
Personification: The sadness that lurks behind
critical of the contemptuous way in
the window,, The roadside stand that too
which the city dwellers look at the pathetically pled
villagers who yearn to sell their Alliteration: Greedy good doers, beneficent
vegetables by setting up a roadside stand beasts of prey, pathetically pled
by the side of the high way .He reminds Oxymoron: Greedy good doers, beneficent
beasts of prey
us that the economic well- being of a Metaphor: Flower of cities Imagery: A
country depends on a balanced roadside stand that too pathetically pled..
development of the villages and the
cities.
The poem presents the lives of poor people (the stall owners on the roadside) who find it different to
make both ends meet. They wait for city people to buy their wares.
There stands an old house at the side of the road. A new little shed is added to it. The shed is
used as the stand to sell items.
The house is situated at the corner of the road, where the traffic passes at the great speed.
Roadside stand seems to beg pathetically to the passersby to halt and to buy. Or the inmates
of the stand beg for financial assistance in order to sustain themselves.
It would not be fair for the people to say they are begging at the roadside stand because they
were not begging for a piece of bread but they wanted a respectful living by selling their fruits for
money which the passersby had to spend in the city.
Villagers crave for the city money to fall into their share so that they could sustain themselves.
Money , the cityfolk spend in living lavishly, could be better used in supporting the lives of village
folk. (Flower of city: lavish lifestyle and richness of city dwellers Sinking and withering faint :from
going down and losing its glamour. Prosperity of the city will decline without money)
Polished traffic refers to the well off and sophisticated city folk who pass in their lavish vehicles.
Polished traffic also implies luxurious vehicles. Their mind is focused on their destination and
they are oblivious of the roadside stand.
They do not generally stop or show concern for rustics. But if they momentarily pause to have
one look at these people ,they are critical of them.
(Aside a moment : stop for a moment ,or ,look aside for a moment Out of sorts: unhappy ,upset)
City folk feel that these rustics spoil the beauty of the landscape with inelegant paint. They show
annoyance as the direction signs are turned wrong. (Marred :spoiled Artless : crude ,clumsy)
Roadside stand owners sell wild berries in wooden containers or twisted necked golden
squash(fruit) with silver lump on it. City dwellers disapprove of this.
Moment of respite is felt in beautiful surroundings. City folks feel that stand spoils the beauty
of mountain scene.
City dwellers have money but they are selfish and do not want to share their money. But why
they get angry with rustics?
The poet does not want to complain about the harm these people cause to the natural scenery.
He is more concerned with the pain and sorrow of their unsaid words cause to the trust of the
country people.
TRUSTING SORROW: Country folk trust their rich brother in city thinking they would come to
their help but feel sad when their trust is breached by the city people through their indifference.
City people say nothing, but their ugly facial expressions and even their silence speak about
cold and indifferent attitude towards rural poor.
Rustics establish roadside stand far away from city and hope some money from city dwellers
would pass into their hands and sustain their livelihood and could lead better life.
By letting some money pass into the hands of rustics ,the city dwellers will keep the promise of
providing comfortable life which ruling parties have failed to do so. Politicians make false
promises to provide better living condition
(Moving pictures: Luxurious, advanced lifestyle projected in T.V or movies)
The poet remarks that he has heard the news that all poor people whom the poet considers as
relatives would be drawn out of their property. Their lands would be bought or acquired for
commercial development. They want the stand owners to vacate and shift to village. They
promise the villagers with respectable living space in the village.
PITIFUL KIN refer to poor village folk. They are akin to each other in their poverty stricken
pathetic condition. THEATRE AND STORE signify superior lifestyle to these rustics.
In the village then they need not to be concerned about their sustenance.
GREEDY GOOD DOERS : greedy people posing as benefactors to mankind.

BENEFICENT BEAST OF PREY: City dwellers want to take away their source of livelihood ,but
pretend to be helpful. Men in power are beasts of prey in garb of benefactors. They
exploit common people for their vested interests.
Men in power enforce such benefits on country folk which in reality are meant for their own
benefit.Men in power approach country folk with false promises of providing better living
conditions. The rustics repose blind faith in these promises and feel comforted to an extent that
they fail to see their greedy intentions.
By making fake promises ,they teach innocent people to sleep over or ignore
their sufferings .But in reality , they snatch their peaceful moments and sleep through
exploitation.
These lines depict the misery of the poor at the “roadside stands” who are rehabilitated to
better places in the village with promises of an increase in earnings and a better life. These
people are exploited and they end up living a life much worse than they lived at “roadside
stands”
The poet finds it unbearable to see the childish longing of the people who wait for customers
uselessly. CHILDISH LONGING: It is the childish and futile desire of the stand owners that the
vehicles would pause to buy the products being sold at the roadside stand.
There is a great deal of sadness as the stand owners wait near the open window openly praying
for the people to stop.
They wait for loud shrieks of brakes and for sound of stopping cars. It raises their hope for
some city money to flow into their hands.
Villagers hope vainly that one car out of thousands will stop to inquire about the prices of the
products. SELFISH CARS: Cars are referred to as selfish as the owners of the cars do not
understand their suffering and so they do not contribute in enhancing their financial status.
When one car stops, their hopes are shattered for it only digs up the grass and use the yard to
back and turn around. Another stop only to ask directions.
Sometimes some motorists stop to enquire if they could get a gallon of gas from the stand. The
people at the stand get annoyed especially when motorists enquire for the gas. They are rather
infuriated at the city folk’s ignorance for they could clearly see that they are not selling gas.
The poet notes sadly that the prosperity in the city is not trickling down the villages at all. No
amount of material gains in the country is uplifting the villagers. Hence the spirit of these poor
people remain depressed because of poverty.
The people from countryside complain of the backwardness of the countryside.
The poet accepts that it would be a great relief work to kill all the poor people. For him mass
killing is the easiest and the quickest remedy to put them out of pain and suffering.
The poet first longs for the killing of all the poor at one stroke. But, when he regains wisdom he
thinks it is a vain and inhuman idea to kill all the poor people. He thinks he should be killed so
that he won’t see the miserable plight of the poor people.

P-5 A Roadside Stand

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Class XII Mind Map

Poem 6 A ROADSIDE STAND

THEME: Poetic Devices

GREEDY GOOD DOERS : greedy people posing as benefactors to mankind.

The people from countryside complain of the backwardness of the countryside.

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