If an undergraduate prefaced an essay this way, I'd be mighty annoyed

By devoting more time and labour, the narrative might have been less imperfect ; but I did not commence it with the view or in the expectation of producing a perfect composition, and I trust that those who feel an interest in the subject will favourably receive what is now submitted to their notice. (viii)

--James Lord, Sister Theresa, nee Ryan, the Abducted Nun. A Metrical Narrative

Granted, given the title, my expectations were already low, but this takes the modesty trope to new heights. (Never mind "I worked so hard"; how about "I couldn't be bothered to work all that hard, but I hope you'll be cool with it anyway?")

ETA: Oh, good heavens. It's worse than I imagined. A random sample of the versifying:

From Mile-end to Great Ormond-street—
And here begins a tale,
Which, could it but be fully told,
Would make one weep and wail —

From Mile-end to Great Ormond-street,
The distance is not great ;
Whether three miles, or more or less,
'Twere bootless here to state. (4)

Even the reviewer for the Bulwark has to concede that the poem's worth is "not so much as a piece of poetry, for we cannot say much of it in that aspect..."