Dear Professor Polák,
Mr. Stanislav Novotný, an agent at the Prague Stock exchange, gave me some of his poems to read after a chance encounter. It is the work of a working-class self-taught man, who only recently began writing.
I marvelled at these compositions, their distinctiveness, formal maturity and wholly unique song-like qualities, which, for some numbers, beg to be put to music. I am convinced that Mr. Novotný is truly a poet with a profound source of inspiration. I am not asking you to take an interest in Mr. Novotný because he has long been a devout member of your party, but I request that you randomly read the poems of this working-class autodidact and – if your judgment does not differ too much from my own – kindly advise him how he could and should proceed with his work.
Thank you in advance for this favour.
Very truly yours,
7 Apr. 1948
Pavel Eisner