“A Roadside Stand” Introduction

• In "A Roadside Stand," American poet Robert Frost presents a gloomy view
of rural life in the United States during the Great Depression. Observing a sad little
"roadside stand" hawking berries and squash to indifferent city people (who just zip
past in their cars), the poem's speaker notes that the farmers who run such stands are
suffering in more ways than one. They're living in poverty, yes—but they've also
been deluded by false dreams of the new life that an infusion of "city money" could
give them. Falling for the "moving-pictures' promise" (that is, illusory Hollywood
glamor), these farmers lose touch with their traditions and risk assimilation into a
selfish urban way of life. Frost first published this poem in the Atlantic in 1936; he
collected it that same year in his book A Further Range.

A Roadside Stand Summary

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 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

There was a small house with a new shed outside it. The road was busy with cars and other
vehicles moving here and there. The shed was built to display items on sale and the owner
expected the passing vehicles to stop by and buy the things or at least have a look at them.
The condition of the shed aroused one’s pity because it displayed the sad feelings of the
owner who was desperate to earn some money. They did not seek any favour or piece of
bread from the city people but wanted some money because the flow of money helps
everyone to use it and benefit from it. Just like the money with the city people helps them
lead a better life, similarly, if it will flow from their pockets into the pockets of the shed
owner, it will benefit his life too. The cars that pass by are sparkling but they never notice
the shed. They are thinking of their destination only. If by chance they do stop at the shed,
they just complain that the shabby paint of the huts and sheds there has spoiled the beauty of
the landscape.

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,
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

Here the poet says that as the people living in these sheds are poor their surroundings are
not well-maintained. The signboards indicating directions of north and south are pointing
towards the wrong directions. The sheds have farm produce on sale – wild berries, golden
squash fruit with silver coloured marks on it, kept in wooden baskets. The place is beautiful
and people should stop here and enjoy the mountain scenery. If they have money then they
should buy some things but if they are selfish then they should keep their money with
themselves and not stop there. The poet says that he does not complain that the sheds have
spoiled the scenery of the place.

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 poet says that these people who have opened the shed are keeping faith in a promise
which was never done to them. Here, the promise is their expectation that the cars passing
by will stop at the shed and buy some stuff from them. They have built this shed far from the
city and they expect that the city people will flow some money out of their pockets into the
hands of the shed owner. The shed owner wants to feel the money on his hands. Just like
they see in pictures that the one who works hard achieves quick success and money, they
have laid their trust on these ideas and expect to get some money. Frost adds that the
political party in power has stopped the flow of cash from the city dwellers to the rural
people.

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 in news that soon all these sheds and huts will be bought by the government and these
people will be relocated to the villages. Near their houses there will be movie theatre and
grocery store. They will be so happy there that they will not worry about their future. The
poet says greedy good-doers and beneficient beasts i.e. such people who show to be doing
good deeds but are actually greedy and are animals of prey who show that they are
benefitting the other persons but in reality, they destroy them. The rich people and
politicians are described as greedy good-doers and beneficient beasts because they show
that they are helping the poor shed owners but in reality nothing like that is done. Actually,
they are encircling their lives and forcefully giving them such benefits which have been well
planned and will put these poor people in a confusion. These people cannot decide what is
good for them and what is harmful. These selfish people tell to the poor that now they can
relax but in reality, they themselves sleep all day long. Also, they destroy their sleep at night
too as has been happening since the past.

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;

The poet says that this kiddish desire in the hearts of these shed owners is useless. He
cannot tolerate their sadness which they go through when they open the window of the shed,
waiting for a car to stop and buy something. They wait there the whole day and it seems that
they are doing a prayer seeking a buyer for their goods. They pray for the vehicles to step on
the brakes and want to hear a car stop by. There are many cars carrying selfish people but
hopefully, some may stop by just to ask the prices of the produce grown by the farmers
there. One car did stop there but just to disturb the grass when they back their car 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?
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.

Some stop by to ask directions of their destination. Some cars stop by to buy fuel for their
cars. Poet gets annoyed and says that do they not have any idea that these poor people
cannot afford to sell fuel. He adds that the kind of work these villagers do and the kind of
things they sell, it cannot lead to the required upliftment. The resources are too less to help
them get rid of their problem. Their situation demands such a solution which would be a
relief to put them out of their problems in one go. The next day, the poet thinks that when he
is realistic then he expects the rich to visit and help them get rid of their problem in one go,
perhaps with death.

Figures of Speech
Transferred Epithet: (a) Polished traffic (b) Selfish cars
Personification: 1) A roadside stand that too pathetically pled
Metaphor: Trusting Sorrow
Oxymoron & Alliteration: ‘Greedy good-doers’ and ‘beneficent beasts’ of prey.
Anaphora - It is the repetition of a word at the start of two or more consecutive lines -
(Or crook-necked golden squash with silver warts,
Or beauty rest in a beautiful mountain scene,).
Personification - The poet has personified sadness by using the phrase sadness that lurks
near the open window there.

Juxtaposition
Exact Line: The little old house was out with a little new shed
Reason: Here, Frost juxtaposes the ‘little old house’ and ‘little new shed.’ This contrast
highlights the passage of time and change, suggesting a theme of progress or transformation.

Apostrophe
Exact Line: You have the money, but if you want to be mean,
Reason: The speaker directly addresses an absent or imaginary entity, engaging in a one-
sided conversation.

Oxymoron- greedy good-doers

Reason: This phrase combines contradictory terms: “greedy” and “good-doers,”
highlighting the duplicitous nature of those who pretend to help while pursuing their own
interests.

Transferred Epithet
Exact Line: Of all the thousand selfish cars that pass,
Reason: “Selfish cars” is a transferred epithet where the selfishness attributed to the cars
actually reflects the attitudes of the city-dwellers driving them, emphasizing their
indifference to the roadside stand.

Parenthesis
Exact Line: They couldn’t (this crossly);
Reason: The use of parentheses around “this crossly” indicates an aside or an under-the-
breath comment, conveying the irritation or bitterness of the speaker.

Personification
Exact Line: Or so the voice of the country seems to complain,
Reason: The “voice of the country” is personified, suggesting the country itself can express
a complaint, emphasizing the collective rural struggle.