Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Earnest

Earnest … as sober Lanesbro’ dancing with the gout.
—Anonymous

Earnest as a seer who invokes the dead.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Earnest as bees.
—Leigh Hunt

In earnest as a mouse in a trap.
—George Meredith

Earnest as life and hope.
—Donald G. Mitchell

As a guardian Muse thou art earnest.
—Bayard Taylor