Fredoon Kabraji

Fredoon Jehangir Kabraji was a Parsi born in India on 10 February 1897. His father was Jehangir Kabraji, an Indian civil servant, and his mother was Putlibai.

Initially, his parents wanted him to pursue a career in farming, but growing tired of this, he moved to Britain perhaps around the mid-1920s, and married Eleanor M. Wilkinson there in 1926.

Kabraji studied at the University of London, but failing to secure a degree, he became a self-confessed "drifter, trying his hand at art, journalism and poetry". As well as having his poetry published, he also contributed to periodicals such as New Statesman and Nation and Life and Letters Today, and journals including The Political Quarterly.{{cite journal

| last1 = Kabraji

| first1 = Fredoon

| title = India in Transition

| journal = The Political Quarterly

| volume = 9

| issue = 1

| pages = 68–85

| publisher = Wiley-Blackwell

| date = January 1938

| url = https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-923X.1938.tb01302.x

| access-date = 14 December 2020

| doi = 10.1111/j.1467-923X.1938.tb01302.x

}}

Kabraji and his wife went back to India where they had two sons, and a daughter, Cynthia (Kashfi). The family returned to Britain in 1935, not long before the outbreak of World War II. Their daughter Cynthia later married the Afghan writer and thinker Idries Shah, an associate and friend of the poet Robert Graves.{{cite book|last=O'Prey|first=Paul|title=Between Moon and Moon – Selected Letters of Robert Graves 1946–1972|publisher=Hutchinson|year=1984|pages=213–215|isbn=0-09-155750-X}} Shah's father, Ikbal Ali Shah published two of Kabraji's poems, "The Lovers" and "Tulip", in his 1933 work The Oriental Caravan: A Revelation of the Soul and Mind of Asia.{{cite book

| editor-last = Ali Shah

| editor-first = Sirdar Ikbal

| editor-link = Ikbal Ali Shah

| title = The Oriental Caravan: A Revelation of the Soul and Mind of Asia

| publisher = D. Archer

| year = 1933

| pages = 166, 167

}}

According to letters archived at St John's College Library, University of Oxford, Kabraji corresponded with Robert Graves and first met him in 1925.{{cite web

| last1 = Staff

| title = Ms letter from Fredoon Kabraji to Graves

| work = Archives Hub

| publisher = Jisc

| url = https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/6adf36ed-997a-37de-ba9e-e926f3812f01?component=b5df7873-1cce-319a-aa56-3a8b55d1d566

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201214130218/https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/6adf36ed-997a-37de-ba9e-e926f3812f01?component=b5df7873-1cce-319a-aa56-3a8b55d1d566

| archive-date = 14 December 2020

| url-status = live

| access-date = 14 December 2020

}} Two records: GB 473 RG/J/Kabraji/1 and GB 473 RG/J/Kabraji/2. Archives at the University of Victoria and California Digital Library also confirm later correspondence with poets John Betjeman{{cite web

| last1 = Staff

| title = File Box 26, Folder 18 - Kabraji, Fredoon, 1945, 1 letter

| publisher = University of Victoria

| url = https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/kabraji-fredoon-1945-1-letter

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201214135902/https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org/kabraji-fredoon-1945-1-letter

| archive-date = 14 December 2020

| url-status = live

| access-date = 14 December 2020

}} and Walter de la Mare.{{cite web

| last1 = Richardson

| first1 = Gayle M.

| title = Walter De la Mare Papers: Finding Aid

| work = Online Archive of California

| publisher = California Digital Library

| year = 2002

| url = https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8pr823h/entire_text/

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201214185629/https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8pr823h/entire_text/

| archive-date = 14 December 2020

| url-status = live

| access-date = 14 December 2020

}}

Kabraji spoke out against British colonialism and poverty in India, and he supported Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent protest and the Quit India Movement, which demanded an end to British rule in India.{{cite news

| last1 = Kabraji

| first1 = Fredoon

| title = The Reformer

| newspaper = Manchester Guardian

| publisher = Manchester Guardian Ltd.

| location = Manchester, England

| date = 18 October 1937

| page = 16}}

{{cite news

| last1 = Thompson

| first1 = Edward

| title = Poets in Session

| newspaper = The Observer

| publisher = William Waldorf Astor

| location = England

| date = 18 February 1945

| page = 3}}

Kabraji was listed among the Vice-Presidents and Representatives of the colonial branches of the Empire Poetry League, under Bombay.{{cite web

| title = S.FW – Some Yorkshire Poets

| work = The Works of Sydney Fowler Wright 1874–1965

| publisher = sfw.org

| url = http://www.sfw.org/yorkshire.shtml

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201214195615/http://www.sfw.org/yorkshire.shtml

| archive-date = 14 December 2020

| url-status = live

| access-date = 14 December 2020

}} The League was founded in 1917{{cite book

| last = Stableford

| first = Brian

| author-link = Brian Stableford

| title = Against the New Gods: The Speculative Fiction of S. Fowler Wright

| publisher = Wildside Press LLC

| year = 2009

| pages = 9–90

| isbn = 978-1434457431}} and was operational for around 15 years.

• {{cite book

| last = Sett

| first = Adi K.

| editor-last = Kabraji

| editor-first = Fredoon

| title = Rain in My Heart: Forty Poems

| publisher = Fortune Press

| year = 1940

| location = London

}}{{cite journal

| last1 = S. D.

| title = Adolescent Agony

| journal = Thought

| volume = 7

| issue = 1

| pages = 12–13

| publisher = Siddhartha Publications Ltd.

| location = Delhi

| date = 1 January 1955

}}

• Fredoon Kabraji (1944). A Minor Georgian's Swan Song (Fifty-One Poems). London: Fortune Press.{{cite book

| last = Chaudhuri

| first = Amit

| author-link = Amit Chaudhuri

| title = The Origins of Dislike

| publisher = Oxford University Press

| date = 27 September 2018

| location = Oxford

| pages = 227–228

| isbn = 978-0198793823}}{{cite book

|editor-last = Chaudhuri

|editor-first = Rosinka

| title = A History of Indian Poetry in English

| publisher = Cambridge University Press

| date = 29 March 2016

| location = Cambridge

| pages =

| isbn = 978-1107078949}}{{cite book

|editor-last = Reddy

|editor-first = Sheshalatha

| title = Mapping the Nation: An Anthology of Indian Poetry in English, 1870–1920

| publisher = Anthem Press

| date = 25 June 2012

| location = London, New York

| pages = xxxii–xxxiii, xlv

| isbn = 978-0857284419}}{{cite news

| last1 = Gibson

| first1 = Wilfrid

| title = Books of the Day: Recent Verse

| newspaper = Manchester Guardian

| publisher = Manchester Guardian Ltd.

| location = Manchester, England

| date = 23 May 1945

| page = 3

}}

• Fredoon Kabraji (ed.) (1947). This Strange Adventure: An Anthology of Poems in English by Indians, 1828–1946. London: New India Publishing Co.{{cite web

| last1 = Mehrotra

| first1 = Arvind Krishna

| title = Man of Letters: The unlikely correspondence between Srinivas Rayaprol and William Carlos Williams

| work = The Caravan

| publisher = Paresh Nath

| date = 30 August 2018

| url = https://caravanmagazine.in/literature/unlikely-correspondence-srinivas-rayaprol-william-carlos-williams

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201214125432if_/https://caravanmagazine.in/literature/unlikely-correspondence-srinivas-rayaprol-william-carlos-williams

| archive-date = 14 December 2020

| url-status = live

| access-date = 14 December 2020

}}

• Fredoon Kabraji (1956). The Cold Flame: Poems (1922–1924, 1935–1938, 1946–1953). London: Fortune Press.

• {{cite book

| editor-last1 = Cranmer-Byng

| editor-first1 = L.

| editor-last2 = Kapadia

| editor-first2 = Dr. S. A.

| title = Anthology of Modern Indian Poetry

| publisher = John Murray: The Wisdom of the East Series

| year = 1927

| location = London

}}

• {{cite book

| editor-last = Campbell

| editor-first = Kathleen Winifred

| title = An Anthology of English Poetry: Dryden to Blake

| publisher = Henry Holt and Company

| year = 1930

| location = New York

}}

• {{cite book

| editor-last = Ali Shah

| editor-first = Sirdar Ikbal

| editor-link = Ikbal Ali Shah

| title = The Oriental Caravan: A Revelation of the Soul and Mind of Asia

| publisher = D. Archer

| year = 1933

}}

• {{cite book

| editor-last = Wright

| editor-first = S. Fowler

| editor-link = S. Fowler Wright

| title = From Overseas—First Series: An Anthology of Contemporary Dominion and Colonial Verse

| chapter = Fredoon Kabraji (Bombay)

| publisher = Merton

| year = 1924

| location = London

}}

• {{cite book

| editor-last = Ganguly

| editor-first = Anil Baran

| title = Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology

| publisher = Atma Ram

| year = 1984

| location = Delhi

| pages = 153, 155

}}{{cite book

| editor-last = Ganguly

| editor-first = Anil Baran

| title = Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology

| publisher = Atma Ram

| year = 1984

| location = Delhi

| pages = 153, 155

}}

• {{cite book

| last = De Souza

| first = Eunice

| author-link = Eunice de Souza

| title = Early Indian Poetry in English: An Anthology: 1829-1947

| publisher = Oxford University Press India

| date = 8 July 2010

| location = India

| isbn = 978-0195677249}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Kabraji

| first = Fredoon

| title = The Patriots [poetry]

| journal = Left Review

| volume = 2

| issue = 12–16

| page = 638

| publisher = International Union of Revolutionary Writers, British Section

| location = UK

| date = September 1936

}}{{cite web

| last1 = Staff

| title = Left Review {{!}} Making Britain

| work = Making Britain

| publisher = The Open University

| url = http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/left-review

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201214184420/http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/left-review

| archive-date = 14 December 2020

| url-status = live

| access-date = 14 December 2020

}}

• {{cite journal

| last1 = Kabraji

| first1 = Fredoon

| title = India in Transition

| journal = The Political Quarterly

| volume = 9

| issue = 1

| pages = 68–85

| publisher = Wiley-Blackwell

| date = January 1938

| url = https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-923X.1938.tb01302.x

| access-date = 14 December 2020

| doi = 10.1111/j.1467-923X.1938.tb01302.x

}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Kabraji

| first = Fredoon

| title = Ambassadors of a Wider Commonwealth [2 parts]

| journal = Eastern World

| volume = 3

| pages = 22, 33

| location = East Asia

| year = 1949

}}

• {{cite journal

| last = Kabraji

| first = Fredoon

| title = Ahmed Has Four Daughters

| journal = Eastern World

| volume = 3

| pages = 36

| location = East Asia

| year = 1949

}}

• {{cite news

| last1 = Kabraji

| first1 = Fredoon

| title = The Reformer

| newspaper = Manchester Guardian

| publisher = Manchester Guardian Ltd.

| location = Manchester, England

| date = 18 October 1937

| page = 16}}

• {{cite news

| last = Kabraji

| first = Fredoon

| title = Creative Literature in English by Indians

| newspaper = Sunday News of India

| issue = 27

| year = 1950}}

{{Poemquote

|text=Tulip, tell me, what do you hold in your cup?

I hold in my cup the magic that swells the thirst of your soul, O Mother, when you look on the form of your child; the opiate that fills your dream, Mother, with the awe of the Unknown!

But, Tulip, tell me, why do you guard your magic beyond the wing of melody?

Because, ere Thought was, a kiss of Love did capture Death in the Seed of Life. That is why no melody of Life can hold all the magic in my cup, Mother; that is why Love cannot hold your child in Life alone!

|char=

|sign=Fredoon Kabraji

|source=in Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah, The Oriental Caravan: A Revelation of the Soul and Mind of Asia (1933).{{cite book

| editor-last = Ali Shah

| editor-first = Sirdar Ikbal

| editor-link = Ikbal Ali Shah

| title = The Oriental Caravan: A Revelation of the Soul and Mind of Asia

| publisher = D. Archer

| year = 1933

| page = 167

}}

|title="Tulip"

|style=

}}

In The Observer on 18 February 1945, the scholar and historian Edward Thompson criticises the "thoroughly bad" title of A Minor Georgian's Swan Song, and calls Kabraji's preface "brash" and that it would antagonise "powerful critics and versifiers". Thompson does praise the poem "I Look upon Simla", which is critical of the British colonialism and poverty in India, though he notes that the poem will "hardly delight all reviewers". Thompson also notes that Kabraji does not use standard metrical forms, alleging that the poet appears "frightened" by them. However he concludes that he has "no doubt that Kabraji has genius if he can find a way to express it."

Writing for the Manchester Guardian on 23 May 1945, Georgian poet Wilfrid Gibson is of the opinion that A Minor Georgian's Swan Song is "unhappily titled", because the author, Fredoon Kabraji "has no affiliations with any school and is an original poet". The reviewer adds that although Kabraji's work "suffers at times from diffuseness, [it] is remarkable for its range and for the versatility of its technique."

In A History of Indian Poetry in English (2016), editor Rosinka Chaudhuri describes Kabraji's This Strange Adventure: An Anthology of Poems in English by Indians, 1828-1946 as excellent, and "comprehensive and accommodating in its reach." She writes that after the "lean" years post-independence, there has been a "resurgence of interest" in such anthologies.

{{Reflist|colwidth=45em|2}}

• {{cite book

| last = Arora

| first = Sudhir K.

| title = Cultural and Philosophical Reflections in Indian Poetry in English Footprints

| chapter = 24. Fredoon Kabraji (1897–1986)

| publisher = Authors Press

| year = 2016

| location = New Delhi

| pages = 171–175

| isbn = 978-93-5207-206-4}}

• [https://www.poetrynook.com/poet/fredoon-kabraji Fredoon Kabraji at the Poetry Nook]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kabraji, Fredoon}}

Category:1897 births

Category:1986 deaths

Category:Date of death missing

Category:Place of death missing

Category:Parsi people

Category:British people of Parsi descent

Category:Indian male poets

Category:English-language poets from India

Category:20th-century Indian male writers

Category:Indian independence activists

Category:Emigrants from British India to the United Kingdom