{"title":"The Unbegun — Christina Rossetti","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"the-unbegun-rossetti-dark-romanticism-t-shirt","title":"The Unbegun — Rossetti Dark Romanticism T-Shirt","description":"\u003cp\u003eRossetti asked whether anything's sadder than unfinished work, then answered herself: \"work never begun.\" By 1885 she'd been writing for two decades and knew the cost.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eChristina Rossetti, Time Flies (1885)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes: work never begun.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eContext\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe logic is the whole point: unfinished work at least proves you started, so the deeper loss is the work that never got its chance. Rossetti isn't mourning failure — she's drawing a line between two kinds of it. Verified to the 1885 first edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWho It's For\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe maker who keeps revising the plan instead of starting it\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe writer with seventeen first chapters\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnyone who has been meaning to begin\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBegin.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Design\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA front-print tee. Two lines across the chest — the question up top, the verdict below. The period does the work: no qualifier, just the conclusion, worn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso on the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/quoteiac.com\/products\/the-unbegun-rossetti-dark-romanticism-mug\"\u003eUnbegun Mug\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/quoteiac.com\/products\/the-unbegun-rossetti-journal\"\u003eUnbegun Journal\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout This Tee\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e100% combed and ring-spun cotton\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFabric weight: 4.2 oz\/yd² (142 g\/m²)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRetail fit, true to size\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSide-seamed construction\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMachine washable, cold water\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eQuoteiac logo on the left sleeve\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eChristina Rossetti, in Plain English\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLived 1830–1894, London\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePublished \u003cem\u003eGoblin Market and Other Poems\u003c\/em\u003e in 1862, at 31 — still her best-known work\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eTime Flies\u003c\/em\u003e (1885), where this line appears, was a devotional written in prose, not verse — a daily diary kept in her mid-fifties\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWrote through chronic illness — Graves' disease in the 1870s, and the cancer that ended her life in 1894\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDeclined marriage more than once on religious grounds; one of the most widely read women poets in English\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSize Chart (Bella + Canvas)\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth\u003eSize\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth\u003eWidth (in)\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth\u003eLength (in)\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eXS\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e16.5\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e27\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eS\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e18\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e28\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eM\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e20\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e29\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eL\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e22\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e30\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eXL\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e24\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e31\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e2XL\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e26\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e32\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Quoteiac","offers":[{"title":"XS","offer_id":42644779565150,"sku":"8682029_21593","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"S","offer_id":42644779597918,"sku":"8682029_21594","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"M","offer_id":42644779630686,"sku":"8682029_21595","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"L","offer_id":42644779663454,"sku":"8682029_21596","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"XL","offer_id":42644779696222,"sku":"8682029_21597","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"2XL","offer_id":42644779728990,"sku":"8682029_21598","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0554\/8664\/4318\/files\/The_Unbegun_Rossetti_Dark_Romanticism_TShirt_front.png?v=1782880275"},{"product_id":"the-unbegun-rossetti-journal","title":"The Unbegun — Rossetti Journal","description":"\u003cp\u003eRossetti put her sharpest line about starting in a diary kept one entry at a time: the saddest work, she wrote, is the kind \"never begun.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eChristina Rossetti, Time Flies (1885)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes: work never begun.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eContext\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe line is a diary entry. Rossetti wrote \u003cem\u003eTime Flies\u003c\/em\u003e one day at a time, in her mid-fifties, often to order — so it reads less like a polished aphorism and more like a note to self that happened to be exactly right. Verified to the 1885 first edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWho It's For\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe writer with more ideas than pages\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe one who opened a blank page and closed it again without writing a word\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnyone who knows exactly what they want to make and hasn't made it\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOpen it. Write the first line. That's all she's asking.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Design\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuestion and answer on a black hardcover, nothing softening them — it asks before you open it, and the answer is your first page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso on the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/quoteiac.com\/products\/the-unbegun-rossetti-dark-romanticism-t-shirt\"\u003eUnbegun Tee\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/quoteiac.com\/products\/the-unbegun-rossetti-dark-romanticism-mug\"\u003eUnbegun Mug\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout This Journal\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e5.5\" × 8.5\" hardcover\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e80 pages of lined, cream-colored paper\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMatching elastic closure and ribbon marker\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eExpandable inner back pocket\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eChristina Rossetti, in Plain English\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLived 1830–1894, London\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePublished \u003cem\u003eGoblin Market and Other Poems\u003c\/em\u003e in 1862, at 31 — still her best-known work\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKept notebooks of drafts and revised for years before releasing work — known for discipline as much as feeling\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eTime Flies\u003c\/em\u003e (1885), where this line appears, was a prose devotional written in her mid-fifties\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWrote more than a thousand poems; one of the most widely read women poets in English\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Quoteiac","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42644787822686,"sku":"4208717_16952","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0554\/8664\/4318\/files\/The_Unbegun_Rossetti_Journal_front.png?v=1782880275"},{"product_id":"the-unbegun-rossetti-dark-romanticism-mug","title":"The Unbegun — Rossetti Dark Romanticism Mug","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes: work never begun.\" Rossetti asked it and answered it in the same breath — in a diary, a page a day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eChristina Rossetti, Time Flies (1885)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Can anything be sadder than work left unfinished? Yes: work never begun.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eContext\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eTime Flies\u003c\/em\u003e was a prose devotional, not a poem — which is why the line lands like a verdict instead of a couplet. Everything hangs on the colon: not a softening comma, but the full stop of a judgment. Verified to the 1885 first edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWho It's For\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe maker who keeps the plan warm but not moving\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe one who needs the question answered before the day starts\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnyone who knows exactly which thing this is about\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe coffee's just the beginning. Start the thing.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Design\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe question sits above the answer; the full stop lands last. Printed on both sides, so it faces you either way you pick it up.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlso on the \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/quoteiac.com\/products\/the-unbegun-rossetti-dark-romanticism-t-shirt\"\u003eUnbegun Tee\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/quoteiac.com\/products\/the-unbegun-rossetti-journal\"\u003eUnbegun Journal\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout This Mug\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e15 oz — substantial, not a collection piece\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGlossy black ceramic\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTwo-sided print — the same design on both sides, so it reads whether you hold it left- or right-handed\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDishwasher safe\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMicrowave safe\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eChristina Rossetti, in Plain English\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLived 1830–1894, London\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePublished \u003cem\u003eGoblin Market and Other Poems\u003c\/em\u003e in 1862, at 31 — still her best-known work\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eTime Flies\u003c\/em\u003e (1885), where this line appears, was a devotional written in prose, not verse — a daily diary kept in her mid-fifties\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWrote through chronic illness — Graves' disease in the 1870s, and the cancer that ended her life in 1894\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOne of the most widely read women poets in English\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Quoteiac","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42644791263326,"sku":"7931791_9324","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0554\/8664\/4318\/files\/The_Unbegun_Rossetti_Dark_Romanticism_Mug_front.png?v=1782880275"}],"url":"https:\/\/quoteiac.com\/collections\/rossetti-the-unbegun.oembed","provider":"Quoteiac","version":"1.0","type":"link"}