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

William Thomson

Black as Hell.

Bright as the eyes of angels and as pure.

His cheeks, as roses red, as lilies fair.

Excelling, as much as orient gold surmounteth brass.

As virtue, firm.

Firm as the fabled throne of Grecian Jove.

Fragrant as the breath of flow’rs.

Gleam like the rosy east.

Quick as the morning ray, or ev’ning beam.

Radiant as the bloom of day.

Rich as the pillars which support the sky.

Soft as the nightingale’s harmonious woe,
In dewy even-tide, when cowslips drop
Their sleepy heads, and languish in the breeze.

As Liberty, sublime.

Sublime as heaven.

Sweet as the early pipe along the dale.

A friend as true as guardian-angels are.

Warm as a love-sick poet’s muse.

Welcome! as beauty to the lovesick swain,
For which he long had sigh’d in vain.