A. TEXTUAL QUESTION AND ANSWERS :
1. The city folk who drone through the countryside hardly paid any heed to the roadside stand or to the people who ran it . If at all they did , it was to complain . Which lines bring this out ? What was their complaint about ?
Ans - The following lines bring out the complaint of the city folk -
".....out of sorts
At having the landscape marred with the artless paint of signs ..."
These people felt annoyed to see the artless paint of the roadside stand . So they complained that the ugly signs painted on the stand destroyed the beauty of the entire place .
2. What was the plea of the folk who had put up the roadside stand ?
Ans - The folk who had put up the stand on the roadside wire poor but respectable farmers . They hoped the people passing in vehicles to stop and buy something form them . They did not want anything for free , they only wanted to earn money by selling the items in their stand .
3. The government and other social service agencies appear to help the poor rural people , but actually do them no good . Pick out the words and phrases that the poet uses to show their double standards .
Ans- The poet , the government and the other social services agencies 'greedy good - doors ', 'beneficient beasts of prey ' who swarm . He also says that they 'soothe them (the poor ) out of their wits 'and' destroy their (the farmers') sleeping at night the ancient way .'
4. What is the ' childish longing ' that the poet refers to ? Why is it 'vain ' ?
Ans - Like an innocent child the poor farmer waits all day for some elegant vehicle to come and stop to buy some article from his roadside stand . But it never happens and no one even comes near him . In this way, his 'childish longing ' goes in vain .
5. Which lines tell us about the insufferable pain that the poet feels at the thought of the plight of the rural poor ?
Ans - The lines are -
" Sometimes , I feel myself I can hardly bear the thought of so much childish longing in vain ,
The sadness that lurks near the open windows there ,
That waits all day in almost open prayer . "
B. Additional Questions and Answers :
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 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
Of sings that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong
Offered for sale wild berries in wooden quarts ,
(a) Name the poem and the poet ?
Ans - The poem is " A Roadside Stand ," and the poet is Robert Frost .
(b) Why and where was the new shed put ?
Ans - The new shed was put as a little stall to sell some petty things , it was put at the edge of the roadside .
(c) Why was the roadside stand pathetically pled ?
Ans - The roadside stand had only some very trivial things and there was some artless paintings on it . The whole stand was very poor and looked pathetically pled .
(d) Explain ; 'But for some money ...... withering faint '?
Ans - The poet says that the roadside stand was put up to earn some cash money , and the flow of some cash helps the economy to go on and not break down .
(e) What is referred to as ' polished traffic ' ?
Ans - The ' polished traffic ' refers to the luxurious vehicles of the rich people who pass by the stand .
2. " It is 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 , beneficient 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 "
(a) What is in the news ?
Ans - In the news are reports that the government will merciful and help these poor farmers to settle down near the cities .
(b) Why would the poor ones not have to think for themselves ?
Ans - The government officials report that when settled comfortably near the cities with all the facilities and comfort of a modern life , they won't need to think for themselves .
(c) Whom does the poet call ' greedy good doers , ' beasts of prey '?
Ans - The poet calls the authorities and the merciless ruling class people so because they fool the poor rural people with false promises only to increase their own benefits and comforts .
(d) In what way do the rich and ruling people destroy the sleep of the poor ? Why is it called the ' the ancient way '?
Ans - The selfish ruling class promise to help the poor sufferers to sleep peacefully , but actually destroy their sleep by exploiting them in the long run . It is called 'the ancient way ' because this happens with the poor people forever , they are exploited by the richer class .
3. " Sometimes I feel myself I can hardly bear
The tough 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 . "
(a) What does the thought of the childish longing of the poor people make the poet feel ?
Ans - This childish longing makes the poet feel that he would not be able to bear the same .
(b) Who waits in open prayer ? What is that prayer ?
Ans - The poor at the roadside stand waits in an almost open prayer that someone comes and buys things from his shed .
(c) Why are the thousand cars called 'selfish '?
Ans - The thousands elegant cars pass by the roadside stand indifferently . They hardly wait to see the stand , and when they do stop there , it is only to enquire about the way ahead or about petrol , not to buy things . So, the people in those thousand cars are called ' selfish '.
4. " 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 ?
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 the owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain . "
(a) Why did the three cars stop at the stand ?
Ans - The first car stopped there to drive back using the yard, the second stopped to ask about the way ahead , and the third one stopped ' to ask foe gallon of gas '.
(b) Why did the people from the third car get cross (irritated )?
Ans - They got irritated to know that the roadside stand is no gallon of gas to sell .
(c) What does the poet mean by ' they had none , didn't it see '?
Ans - The poet wants to say that the appearance of the roadside stand was enough to make it clear that no gas was to be found there ad the people in the car should've understood it .
(d) Why is the country scale of gain never found or counted ?
Ans -In the economic system the gain and happiness of the rural people are never taken into account they are always neglected .
(e) What is the complaint of the country people ?
Ans- They have the complaint that their fate is never changed and they have to keep suffering always .
