Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Softly
Tread softly,—softly, like the foot
Of winter, shod with fleecy snow.
—Barry Cornwall
Softly as if over a pavement of down.
—Alphonse Daudet
Walked as softly as the ghost in Hamlet.
—Charles Dickens
Softly as moonlight steals upon the skies.
—Julia C. R. Dorr
Softly … as music that floats through a dream.
—Minnie Gilmore
Softly as a burglar goes.
—O. Henry
Stepping softly like a scout.
—O. Henry
More softly than the east could blow
Arion’s magic to the Atlantic isles.
—John Keats
Softly among the pines as a young witch gathering simples.
—Richard Le Gallienne
Softly as full-blown flower
Unfolds its heart to welcome in the dawn.
—Henry Van Dyke
Softly … like low aërial music when some angel hovers near.
—Lady Wilde