This letter from 1928 might be the most brutal rejection ever
A letter from 1928 has revealed how one aspiring poet was shown no mercy when attempting to be published.
The letter was addressed to poet Frederick Charles Meyer and was sent from Sydney publisher Angus and Robertson nearly 90 years ago.
A picture of the letter was uploaded on the Twitter page Letters of Note by Kylie Parkinson.
Meyers had sent Angus and Robertson a sample of his poetry and they did not hold back when criticising his work.
“Dear Sir, no you may not send us your verses, and we will not give you the name of another publisher. We hate no rival publisher sufficiently to ask you to inflict them on him,” the letter reads.
“The specimen poem is simply awful. In fact, we have never seen worse. Yours faithfully, Angus and Robertson Ltd.”
However, Myers was not deterred by the criticism and went on to publish Pearls of the Blue Mountain of Australia one year later. He also published Jewels of Mountains and Snowlines of New Zealand in 1934.
It seems as though Angus and Robertson weren’t the only ones to dislike his work as in 2001 New Zealand magazine Artscape nominated Meyers for the “bad verse and awful poetry competition”.
A verse from his poem Maori Maiden was used to justify the nomination:
“I think — I understand thee well,
Rub my nose now for a spell!”
Lines from his poem My Pet Dog were also used:
“Pluto! Come here my dearest little dog,
Don’t get mixed up with every rogue,
And do not run into a fog.”