Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Fret
Frets like gumm’d taffety.
—Anonymous
Fretting as fire frets.
—Robert Browning
Fret as in a cage.
—Frederick William Faber
Fret,
Like a pupil of Walton and Cotton,
Who remains by the brink of the water, agape,
While the jack, trout, or barbel effects its escape
Thro’ the gut or silk line being rotten.
—Thomas Hood
Fretting like a wild horse struggling to escape.
—Victor Hugo
Frets like a gummed velvet.
—William Shakespeare