Contents
-BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Loathe worse than a leper’s mouth.Adorable as is nothing save a child.Adrift as a pinnace in peril.Adrift as a spirit in doubt that dissembles
Still with itself, being sick of division and dimmed by dismay.Ageless as the sun.Thy lips are aglow
As a lover’s that kindle with kissing.Alive as a vision of life to be.Arise as the spring out of tempest and snow.Aspire, as all the sea’s life toward the sun.Aspires as a flame.Babble like one mad with wine.Bare as a beggar.Bare as naked daylight.Bare as shame.Barren as crime.Beard like foam swept off the broad blown sea.Bereft as a man whom bitter time bereaves
Of blossom at once and hope of garnered sheaves,
Of April at once and August.Bites like fire.Bitter as a tear.Bitter as harsh-lipped spring.Bitter as the breaking down of love.Thy speech is bitterer than the sea.Bitter like blood.Her heart within
Burnt bitter like an aftertaste of sin
To one whose memory drinks and loathes the lee
Of shame or sorrow deeper than the sea.Black as the womb of darkness.Black as crushed worms that sicken in the sense.Black as thunderous night.As midnight black.Black as flameless brand.Blind and stark as though the snows made numb all sense within it.Blind as a pilot beaten blind with foam.Blind as glass.Blind as grief.Blind as the night.Blind and vain
As rain-stars blurred and marred by rain
To wanderers on a moonless main
Where night and day seem dead.Blither than Spring’s when her flowerful tresses
Shake forth sunlight and shine with rain.Bloomed, as new life might in a bloodless face.Blue as plague.Blurred like a lamp’s that when the night drops dead
Dies.Blushed as with bloodless passion, and its hue
Was as the life and love of hearts on flame.Fast bound and free,
As all the world is girdled with the sea.Fast bound as a frost-bound water.Bound as the sun to the world’s wheel.Bound
Like as thralls with links of iron fast in bonds of doom.Bowed like a flowering weed when May’s wind heaves the reed-bed the stream kisses.Bowed down as briars or palms
Even at the breathless blast as of a breeze
Fulfilled with clamour and clangour and storms of psalms.Brave as winds that brave the sea.Brawls
Like jarring steel on ruining walls.Break forth as laughter on lips that said nought till the pulse in them beat love’s march.Breasts like spring.Breathe
As March breathes back the spirit of winter.Breathless as the deer
Driven hard to bay.Brief as a broken song.Bright as a dew-drop engilt of the sun on the sedge.Bright as all above.Bright as a warrior’s belt.Bright as burns at sunrise, heaven’s own.Song bright as heaven above the mounting bird.Bright as heaven’s bare brow with hope of gifts withholden.Bright as hell-fire.Bright as hope.Bright as Maytime.Bright as mercy.Bright as the kindling dews when the dawn begins.Bright as the night is dark on the world.Bright as though death’s dim sunrise thrilled it there and life re-risen took comfort.Bright like spring with flower-soft wealth of branching tracery.Brighter than joy’s own tears.Brightened
As a forest with birds.Brittle as glass that breaks with a touch.As twilight brown.Burn and bleed
Like that pale princess-priest of Priam’s seed.Burn as if all the fires of the earth and air
Had laid strong hold upon his flesh and stung
The soul behind it as with a serpent’s tongue.Burn as that beamless fire which fills the skies
With troubled stars and travailing things of flame.Burning her like flame
That feeds on flowers in bloom.Burns like joy.Burns low as fire wherein no firebrands glow.Changed as a cloud in the night.Chatter like sick flies.Clamorous like as wave to wave at sea.Clean of cloud
As though day’s heart were proud
And heaven’s were glad.Clear and fair as sunlight and the flowerful air.Clear as a child’s own laughter.Clear as heaven of the toils of time.As clear as love.Clear as mirth.Clear as night beholds her crowning seven.Clear as righteousness.Soul as clear as sunlit dew.Clear as the closest seen and kindly star
That marries morn and even and winter and spring with one love’s golden ring.Clear as the cloudless hour.Clear as the flame from the pyres of the dead.Clear as the plume of a bright black bird.Clear as the tocsin from the steeple.Clear as thy song’s words or the live sun’s light.Clove as a ploughshare cleaves the field.Cold as blight of dew.Cold as … dawn.Cold as the cast-off garb that is cold as clay.Grew cold as a winter wave
In the wind from a wide-mouthed grave,
As a gulf wide open to swallow
The light that the world held dear.Cold as fears.Cold as rains in autumn.Coloured as the moon.Confused as a soul heavy-laden with trouble that will not depart.Crowned, as day crowned the dawn-enkindled wave.Cruel as love or life.Crumble as a crown,
Till Cæsar driven to lair and hounded Pope
Reel breathless and drop heartless out of hope.Dark as a cloud that the moon turns bright.Dark as fate.Dark as fear.Dark in her sight
As her measureless measure of shadowless pleasure was bright.Dark as the heart of time.Galleons dark as the helmsman’s bark of old that ferried to hell the dead.Dark as the sire that begat her, Despair.More dark than the dead world’s tomb.Darkened as one that wastes by sorcerous art and knows not whence it withers.Dark as a land’s decline.Silent dark as shame.Dead as night when stars wax dim.Dead as dreams of days that were
Before the new-born world lay bare
In heaven’s wide eye.Dead as the carver’s figured throng.Dead as the dawn’s grey dew
At high midnoon of the mounting day that mocks the might of the dawn it slew.Dead as yesterday.Deaf as fire.Deathless as love.Deep as deep in water sinks a stone.Deep as music’s heart.Deep as the clear unsounded sea.Deep as the deep dim soul of a star.Deep as the depths unsought
Whence faith’s own hope may redeem us naught.Deep as the pit of hell.Deeper than men’s dreams of hell are deep.Deeper than the green sea’s grass.Deep as hate.Deep as the grave.Deeper than time or space.Hold delight as grape-flowers hold their wine.Delight as the wind’s in the billow.Delight as a wave in the wind.Delight as in freedom won.Dense as the fumes of ascending hell.Dense as the walls that fence the secret darkness of unknown time.Dense as darkness.Dies as dreams that die with the sleep they feed.As a star feels the sun and falters,
Touched to death by diviner eyes—
As on the old gods’ untended altars
The old fire of withered worship dies.Die as a leaf that dies in a day.Different as dark eyes from golden hair.Dire as the face disfeatured of a dream.And flesh from bone divides without a pang
As dew from flower-bell drips.Divine as dreams lit by fire of appeased desire which sounds the secret of all that seems.Draped round her pallid brow like seaweed on a clam.Dreamy like dim skies.Drifted
Like foam or sandPast swamp and sallow.Drive
Like mists before the blasts of dawn.Driven
As foam before the wind that wakes
With the all-awakening sun, and breaks
Strong ships that rue the mirth it makes
When grace to slay is given.Drop as a leaf drops dead.Dropping like flies, devoured
By winter as if by fire, starved, frozen, blind,
Maimed, mad with torment, dying in hell.Dull as the dead fume of a fallen fire.Dumb as a dream.Flapping ears like water-flags.At ease
As a flower of the springtime of corn.Eat up like fire the ashen autumn days.Ebb like hopes that wither.Ecstatic and inviolate as the red glad mouth of morn.Elate as Heaven.Erratic
As the strong star smiles that lets no mourner mourn.Exulted as the sunrise in its might.Eyes as glad as summer.Gold-eyed as the shore-flower shelterless
Whereon the sharp-breathed sea blows bitterness,
A storm-star that the seafarers of love
Strain their wind-wearied eyes for glimpses of.Your grave majestic eyes
Like a bird’s warbled words
Speak, and sorrow dies.Thy face
Was as a water’s wearied with wind.Faded, as fields that withering winds leave dry.Fade like flame.Fade as leaves when the woods wax hoary.Fain of the wild glad weather
As famine is fain of feast.Faint as the moon if the sundawn gleam.Faint as the shadows of ages
That sunder their season and ours.Fair as a fairy.Fair as a field in flower.Fair as all that the world may call most fair, save only the sea’s own face.Fair as any poison-flower
Whose blossom blights the withering bower
Whereon its blasting breath has power.Fair as a star-shaped flower.Fair as dawn.Fair as dreams that die and know not what they were.Fair as even the wakening skies.Fair as flame.Fair as fled foam.Fair as heaven in spring.Fair as hope divines.Fair as life.Fair as peace.Clean and fair
As sunlight and the flowerful air.Fair as the ambient gold of wall-flowers.Fair as the eyes are fair.Fair as the face of the star-clothed night.Fair as the frondage each fleet year sees fade.Fair as the morning.Fair as the sunbright air.Fair as the sundawn’s flame
Seen when May on her first-born day bids earth exult in her radiant name.Fair as the world’s old faith of flowers.Fair as thine eye’s beam
Hidden and shown in heaven.Fair as thought could dream.Fair as youth.Fall as a slaughtered beast headless.Fallen as leaves by the storms in their season thinned.False and foul as fear.Fragrant his fame as flowers that close not.Far as heaven’s red labouring eye could glance.Far as hope from joy or sleep from truth.Far from earth as heaven.Fast as autumn days toward winter.Fast as fire on earth devours.Fast as the gin’s grip of a wayfarer.Fast as warriors grip their brands when battle’s bolt is hurled.Made fast as with anchors to land.Fast in bondage as herded beasts.Fast as storm could speed.Faultless as a flower.Bred him fearless, like a sea-mew reared
In rocks of man’s foot feared,
Where nought of wingless life may sing or shine.A baby’s feet, like sea-shells pink,
Might tempt, should heaven see meet,
An angel’s lips to kiss, we think,
A baby’s feet.
Like rose-hued sea-flowers toward the heat
They stretch and spread and wink
Their ten soft buds that part and meet.Fell as falls an ember from forth a flameless pile.Fervent as fiery moon.Fierce as a blast of hate from hell.Fierce as the fervid eyes of lions.Filled as cloud with fire.More fine than moonbeams.Firm as dust and fixed as shadows.Fitful as the sea.Fixed like a sea-rock.Flames like morn.Flares like an angered and storm-redding morn.Flash and toss
Like plumes in battle’s blithest charge.Flat
As dead sands be at utmost ebb that drink
The drainèd salt o’ the sea.Flee
As clouds and winds and rays across the sea.Fleet as light.Fleet as the lightning’s laugh.Fleet
As words of men or snowflakes on the wind.Flickers like a blown-out flame.Flickering like a wind-bewildered leaf.Flicker like fire.Fluctuated as flowers in rain
That bends them and they tremble and rise again
And heave and straighten and quiver all through with bliss
And turn afresh their mouths up for a kiss,
Amorous, athirst of that sweet influent love.Flushed as one afire with wine.Like snow-coloured petals
Of blossoms that flee
From storm that unsettles
The flower as the tree
They flutter.Fluttering like spent fire.Eyelids folded like a white-rose leaf.Forged like steel and tempered thought.Forgotten as changes of dreams. 