The meaning and origin of the expression: Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

What's the origin of the phrase 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder'?

The Roman poet Sextus Propertius gave us the earliest form of this saying in Elegies:

"Always toward absent lovers love's tide stronger flows."

The contemporary version appears in The Pocket Magazine of Classic and Polite Literature, 1832, in a piece by a Miss Stickland:

'Tis absense, however, that makes the heart grow fonder.

As with many proverbial sayings there is another that expresses the exact opposite point of view - 'out of sight, out of mind'.

'Absence makes the heart grow fonder' was also source material for the lewd wordplay:

"Absinthe makes the fart grow stronger".

See also: the List of Proverbs.