By Robert Frost
BEFORE THE CHAPTER
Writing Task: Write an article for your school magazine on the topic: Poverty: Reasons & Solutions.
Poverty: Reasons & Solutions
By Atul, XIA
SUMMARY
Robert Frost, an American poet, vehemently raises his voice for the social upliftment of the rural poor in the poem. Without mincing his words, he complains about the glaring contrast between the miserable condition of the poor and luxurious life of rich city dwellers. He appeals the rich and the government to empathize with the rural poor and relieve them of their want and poverty.
The poor village people do not beg for money. Instead, they have constructed a roadside stand to make their living but their efforts go in vain as the cultured people pass on speedily in their cars. They don’t stop to buy anything from them. Even if they do they stop to complain about something, to take a turn or asking for something these shopkeepers don’t have. The poet scolds the rich people for being so callous and mean. He advises them to buy something so that the flow of money can make the life of the villagers somewhat better.
They are living a miserable life. They don’t have any source of income. He criticizes the party in power for making falls promises and doing nothing fruitful to bridge the gap between the living condition of the city and the village dwellers. The rich pretend to be helping these people but are making themselves richer. The people who are expected to bring change are actually the cause of the problem.
The poet is extremely sad at the pathetic condition of these people. He feels helpless and sees no solution to the problem. Therefore, he dreams of a supernatural help for the poor people, a touch of magic or the like, so that the poor people will be redeemed from their state of poverty and misery instantly. His helplessness drives the poet to seek an unrealistic solution for the poor people’s misery.
LITERARY DEVICES
- Polished traffic
- Selfish cars
- A roadside stand that too pathetically pled
- Sadness that lurks near the open window
- The voice of the country
- Trusting Sorrow
- ‘Greedy good-doers and ‘beneficent beasts’ of prey.
- pathetically pled
- greedy good
- beneficent beasts
- gallon of gas
MEANING OF THE PHRASES
- traffic sped: The rich, in their cars, are in hurry to reach city make more money.
- pathetically pled: the purpose of the roadside stand is to earn money, but the rich people never stop to buy anything. The poor villagers eagerly wait that any car would stop and they can sell something.
- a dole of bread: The poor people at the roadside stand are not beggars. They have self-respect. They have something sell to earn money.
- city money: They money that rich city people have.
- The flower of cities: The growth of the city. The poet says cities are growing because of the flow of the money. If it flows in the villages, then villages will also grow like cities.
- polished traffic: The rich cultured people sitting in their cars. It is a satire on them. They are not cultured as they cannot feel the pain of the poor people.
- out of sorts: irritated.
- the landscape marred: the beautiful site of the land has been spoiled by the clumsy paint.
- wooden quarts: a measuring unit, one fourth of a gallon.
- golden squash with silver warts: golden pumpkin with silver lumps on it.
- crossly: angrily
- trusting sorrow: the simple poor people believe the promises made by the rich and powerful people. By the time they realize the hollowness of their promises and become sad.
- money to feel in hand: They don’t want promises any more. They need real money.
- make our being expand: The city money will not only raise them from poverty but will also make them financially strong.
- moving pictures: the movies that show the stories of rags to riches.
- pitiful kin: the poor villagers have been referred to as pitiable relatives.
- greedy good doers: The business class and the political parties show themselves as they are doing good things for the poor but they make money from these people.
- beneficent beast of prey: greedy people who make money in the name of social and political and charitable works.
- soothe the wits of the poor: The business minded city people attract the poor people with their well-planned promotional offers and promises. These promises and offers are such a way calculated that the poor people cannot escape the traps of the rich.
- the ancient way: for ages the rich have been exploiting and befooling the poor.
- childish longing in vain: The poet feels that the expectation of the poor that the rich would stop and buy something from them will never be fulfilled. It is useless to think so.
- country scale of gain: something that indicates growth: money
- Requisite lift of spirit: The most important thing to make one feel confident and safe (money)
Answer the following in 30-40 words.
1. What is the ‘open prayer’ made by the countryfolk?
Ans: The countryfolk make a silent appeal to the city dwellers not to be selfish. They make an open prayer for the city cars to stop at their roadside stand and help them earn some money by buying their stuff so that they can also live a better life.
2. What are the various reasons for which the cars halt at the roadside stand?
Ans: The city dwellers do not generally stop at the roadside stand but sometimes when they do they do it for some purposes other than buying their products. They halt at times to make a complaint about the landside beauty marred by their shabby outlet or the clumsily painted signboards. They sometimes apply brakes to take a turn and ruin their grass. Sometimes, they inquire about the route ask for a gallon of gas which they don’t seemingly have.
Note: Read the summary for long answer type questions.
CASE BASED LONG QUESTION
- 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.
Dear Robert
I hope this advice is helpful to you. Please let me know if there is anything else I
can do to support you.
Warmly,
Pablo Neruda
Ans:
Dear Robert
I recently read your poem, "A Roadside Stand," and was struck by the conflicting emotions that you expressed towards the end. I understand that it can be difficult to make decisions when we are overwhelmed by our emotions.
In my own experience, I have found that taking a moment of stillness and reflection can be very helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of the situation and connecting with our own humanity and that of others. This is the message that I try to convey in my poem, "Keeping Quiet."
I would advise you to take a moment to be still and contemplative before making any decisions about the fate of the people at the roadside stand. By quieting your mind and being present in the moment, you may be able to understand their struggles and pain objectively, and gain a new perspective about your own place in the world too. I also feel that by breaking from your routine and taking a moment of stillness and reflection, you might gain a deeper understanding of the situation and make a more functional decision.
I believe that this moment of reflection could help you to see beyond your conflicting emotions. We are all human, after all, and before connecting with others, and resolving their issues, we must try to connect with our own selves to advice from a place of balance and calm. I hope this advice is helpful to you. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to support you.
Warmly
Pablo Neruda
Multiple Choice Questions based on an extract.
A:
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 meAnd offer to put me gently out of my pain.
1. The ‘country money’ contextually here refers to
b) wealth accumulated by the whole country.
c) meagre income earned by the countryside people.
d) riches collected by the ancestral farmers over time.
b) 2, 4, 5
c) 1, 3, 4
Statement 1: The poet is agitated and depressed.
Statement 2: The poet realizes the futility of his thought about giving up.
b) Statement 1 cannot be inferred but Statement 2 can be inferred.
c) Statement 1 and Statement 2 can be inferred.
“I can’t help owning the great relief it would be
To put these people at one stroke out of their pain.”
a) The poet wants to kill the impoverished people.
b) The poet feels that death is better than living such a miserable life.
c) The poet wants to eliminate poverty from the society.
d) The poet states that it is important that these people become rich.
B:
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 paintOf signs that with N turned wrong and S turned wrong…
1. The polished traffic in particular refers to the
b) shiny cars that the poet sees on the road.
c) extremely affluent people living in the neighborhood.
d) civilized manner in which traffic is coordinated.
2. Choose the option suggesting the correct meaning behind this line.
'The urban and educated people have their minds ahead.’
b) The people are concentrating on the road that is ahead in order to drive safely.
c) The people are preoccupied only by the thoughts of their lives and nothing else.
d) The people are focused on their goal of bettering the country.
3. What do the urban rich feel about the S and N signs that have been painted wrong?
a) Tolerant
b) Amused
c) Sympathetic
d) Annoyed
4. The passers-by find the sign artless but the landscape ___________.
a) animated
c) amusing
d) ancient
STAND ALONE MCQs
| Option | City dwellers | Countryside people |
|
1 |
Unaware, casual |
Greedy, concerned |
|
2 |
Indifferent, grumpy |
Suffering, disappointed |
|
3 |
short-tempered, materialistic |
Optimistic, savage |
|
4 |
Stressed, dismissing |
Protesting, objectionable |
b) Option 2
c) Option 3
2. The tone of the poem by the end, as depicted by the given lines is
“I wonder how I should like you to come to me
And offer to put me gently out of my pain.”
b) commanding.
c) Introspective.
d) emotional.
3. Pick the option with the slogan that is likely to be used by a person selling at the roadside stand.
Slogan 1: Men and women in equality; a road to dignity.
Slogan 2: By the people and for the people.Slogan 3: I see humans but no humanity.Slogan 4: Corruption, corruption, you leave my country. That’s all I pray!
b) Slogan 2
c) Slogan 3
d) Slogan 4
4. Choose the option that correctly categorizes the given literary devices as per the given analogy.
selfish cars : …............. :: …................ : metaphor
b) transferred epithet; trusting sorrow
c) metaphor; pitiful kin
d) oxymoron; greedy good-doers
5. Choose the option that correctly mentions the complaints made by the poet through this poem.
2. The city-dwellers remain highly insensitive and offhand towards the poor people.
3. The urban people are unable to understand the struggles of the impoverished people.
a) 1, 2
b) 2, 3
c) 3, 4
d) 1, 4
