What would not I give to wander
Where my old companions dwell?
Absence makes the heart grow fonder:
Isle of Beauty, fare thee well![ T. H. Bayly, Isle of Beauty ]
In thy heart there is a holy spot,
As 'mid the waste an isle of fount and palm,
Forever green! - the world’s breath enters not.
The passion-tempest may not break its calm,
'Tis thine, all thine.[ Mrs. Hemans ]
The isle of Wight hath no monks, lawyers, or foxes.[ Proverb ]
Granted the ship comes into harbour with shrouds and tackle damaged; the pilot is blameworthy; he has not been all-wise and all-powerful; but to know how blameworthy, tell us first whether his voyage has been round the globe or only to Ramsgate and the Isle of Dogs.[ Carlyle ]