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

William Dean Howells

Catching like fire in dry grass.

She as fair as any shepherdess
That ever was in mask or Christmas scene.

She fell like a column of water.

Lies hushed, like a seer in a vision.

Pure as starlight shall their deeds of daring glow.

Sere and dead
As any leaves of summer shed
From crimson bough when autumn grieves.

Still as salt.

Tenderly … like the song of the robin in the tree.

Vague … like feathers wafted backwards
From passage birds in flight.