Record Number: 33598
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
Harold and I are the subject of song in Hureidha at present. Old Abdulla the watch-mender came some evenings ago to present me with an ode in my honour. He had it on a piece of grubby paper and his wife and daughter came too, to hear. I had gone to bed, but it would have hurt the old man's feelings to be turned back; so they all sat by my bedside; and it was charming to see him playing with his song, singing every verse over with modulations and variations, making us observe every delicacy of rhythm, while his daughter looked at him with all the admiration of her heart [...] the father and daughter are the real companions in this craft, and presently they began to sing together, recalling one qasida after another.
Century:1900-1945
Date:17 Feb 1938
Country:Yemen
Timeevening
night
city: Huraidha
county: Shibam, Hadhramaut
location in dwelling: bedroom
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Listener: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Female
Date of Birth:31 Jan 1893
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Travel writer
Religion:Christian
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:Yemen
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author:Abdulla The watch-mender of Huraidha
Title:[Arabic qasida (praise poem) in praise of Freya Stark]
Genre:Poetry
Form of Text:Manuscript: Sheet
Publication Detailsunknown Arabic qasida (praise poem) composed in early 1938
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:33598
Source:Freya Stark
Editor:n/a
Title:A Winter in Arabia: A Journey through Yemen
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1972
Vol:n/a
Page:173-74
Additional Comments:
Pagination is from the 2011 IB Tauris edition. The book was first published by John Murray in London in 1972.
Citation:
Freya Stark, A Winter in Arabia: A Journey through Yemen, (London, 1972), p. 173-74, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33598, accessed: 26 April 2024
Additional Comments:
Dame Freya Madeline Stark (31 January 1893 - 9 May 1993) was a British explorer and travel writer. This reading of a 'qasida' took place in Huraidha (near Shibam) in the Qu'aiti State of Hadhramaut, which was a British protectorate from 1858 until its abolition in 1967. This Arabic praise poem in praise of Freya Stark was written by Abdulla the watch-mender and recited with his daughter (also a poet). Stark had been the subject of praise poems in her first extended visit to Yemen in 1934.
