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

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CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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

William Wordsworth


Adventurous as a bee.	1
As bare As winter trees.	2
Beauteous as the silver moon.	3
Beautiful as heaven.	4
Blithe as the lark on sun-gilt wings High poised, or as the wren that sings In shady places to proclaim Her modest gratitude.	5
Bold as day.	6
Bright as a sunbeam sleeping till a shower Brush it away, or cloud pass over it.	7
Bright as spring.	8
Bright as the glimpses of eternity, To saints accorded in their mortal hour.	9
Bright as the dazzling snow.	10
Busy as a wren.	11
Busy as the lightning.	12
Calm as a frozen lake when ruthless winds Blow fiercely.	13
Calm as the dew-drops.	14
Calm as lakes that sleep.	15
Careless as if nothing were.	16
Cheeks were red as ruddy clover.	17
As cheerful as a grove in Spring.	18
Clamorous as a horn Re-echoed by a naked rock.	19
Clatter like a loose casement in the wind.	20
Constant as a soaring lark.	21
Constant as the motion of the day.	22
Continuous as the stars that shine And twinkle on the milky way.	23
Softly creeping, like a breath of air, Such as is sometimes seen, and hardly seen, To brush the still breast of a crystal lake.	24
Intricately crossed, Like leafless underboughs, ’mid some thick grove.	25
Curls, like ivy.	26
Depart Like blighted buds; or clouds that mimicked land Before the sailor’s eye.	27
Distrest Like a poor bird—her plundered nest Hovering around with dolorous moan.	28
Docile as a managed horse.	29
Downcast as a woman fearing blame.	30
Eager as a fine-nosed Hound.	31
Her eyes as stars of twilight fair.	32
Eyes Like the harebells bathed in dew.	33
Fades like the lustre of an evening cloud.	34
Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky.	35
Fast as a musician scatters sound Out of an instrument.	36
Fear is like a cloak which old men huddle About their love, as if to keep it warm.	37
Firm and unflinching, as the lighthouse reared On the Island-rock.	38
Firm as solid crystal.	39
Fixed as a star.	40
Fled as fast as doth the haunted fawn.	41
Fled Like vapour, like a towering cloud, dissolved.	42
Fleet as the shadows.	43
Fleet as days and months and years.	44
Fleeting as health or beauty.	45
Flounder on, like wounded whales Tossed on the bosom of a stormy sea.	46
Flow, Like smoke, along the level of the blast, In mighty currents.	47
Forgotten like a dream.	48
Free as the Sun.	49
Free as our desires.	50
Freely as the streams of Eden flowed.	51
Fresh as banner bright, unfurl’d to music suddenly.	52
Fresh as a lark mounting at break of day.	53
Gambol like a dancing skiff.	54
Gentle as an infant child.	55
Gentle as the morning light.	56
Glares, like a troubled Spirit.	57
Gliding like morning mist Enkindled by the sun.	58
Glimmered like a pine tree dimly viewed Through Alpine vapors.	59
Green as the salt-sea billows.	60
Happy as a child.	61
Happy as a Lover.	62
As happy as birds in their bowers.	63
Happy as a wave.	64
Harmless as a babe.	65
Of harsher import than the curfew-knell That spoke the Norman Conqueror’s stern behest.	66
Haunted me like a passion.	67
Heart as calm as lakes that sleep, In frosty moonlight glistening.	68
Heavy as frost.	69
Helpless as a sailor cast on desert rock.	70
Helpless … as the blind.	71
High as manhood’s noon.	72
Hushed as night.	73
Hushed As the unbreathing air, when not a leaf Stirs in the mighty woods.	74
Poetry is the first and last of all knowledge: it is immortal as the heart of man.	75
Joyless as the blind.	76
Keen and eager as a fine-nosed hound.	77
His face was keen as is the wind That cuts along the hawthorn fence.	78
Kindly as the spirit of society.	79
Lank as a ghost.	80
Light as a buoyant bark from wave to wave.	81
Light as a sunbeam glides along the hills.	82
Lonely … as a crow on the sands.	83
I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills.	84
Loud as any mill.	85
Lovely as a Lapland night.	86
Lovely as spring’s first rose.	87
Meek and patient as a sheathèd sword.	88
As mute as Jedoro Tower.	89
Naked as a Tower.	90
Natural as dreams to feverish sleep.	91
Opposite as heaven and hell.	92
Pallid as a ghost.	93
Passed like a fancy that is swept away.	94
Peaceful as the morning.	95
Pleasant as roses in the thickets blown.	96
More precious far Than that accumulated store of gold And orient gems, which, for a day of need, The Sultan hides deep in ancestral tombs.	97
Pure as nature is.	98
Purple, like the blush of even.	99
Quiet as a Nun Breathless with adoration.	100
As quietly as spots of sky Among the evening clouds.	101
Red as ruddy clover.	102
Regretted like the nightingale’s last note.	103
Reposes, Like relics in an urn.	104
Restless as a veering wind.	105
Restored Like a re-appearing Star.	106
Retired as noontide dew.	107
Returning, like a ghost unlaid.	108
Roar like lions for their prey.	109
Robust as ever rural labor bred.	110
Scattering, like birds escaped the fowler’s net.	111
Serene as day.	112
Shun, like a shattered bark, the storm.	113
Silent as a picture.	114
Silent as a standing pool.	115
Silent as the skies.	116
Sleeps, like a caterpillar sheathed in ice.	117
Smooth as marble or a waveless sea.	118
Snug as a child that hides itself in sport ’Mid a green hay-cock in a sunny field.	119
Soft as a cloud.	120
Split, Like fields of ice rent by the polar wind.	121
Spread like a halo round a misty moon.	122
Spread like a sea.	123
Spread like plagues.	124
Spread like day.	125
The slaughter spread like flame.	126
Startled, as if some new-created thing Enriched the earth, or Faery of the woods Bounded before him.	127
I looked with steadiness, as sailors look On the north star, or watch-tower’s distant lamp.	128
Still As the mute swan that floats adown the stream.	129
Strong as guilty fear.	130
As sure as there’s a moon in Heaven.	131
Swept As by a plague.	132
Sweet as morning fragrance shed From flowers.	133
Swells like the bosom of a man set free.	134
Swift as a Thracian Nymph o’er field and height.	135
Taunts, like Vulcan out of heaven.	136
Toss like a ship at anchor, rocked by storms.	137
Tranquil as a summer sea.	138
Tranquil as a dreamless sleep.	139
Transient as the glance Of flying sunbeams.	140
Transparent as the soul of innocent youth.	141
Tremble like a guilty thing surprised.	142
True as the Stock-dove to her shallow nest And to the grove that holds it.	143
Twinkling … like a sullen star Dimly reflected in a lonely pool.	144
Undisturbed; As on the pavement of a Gothic church Walks a lone Monk, when service hath expired, In peace and silence.	145
Unfettered as bees that in gardens abide.	146
In harmony united, Like guests that meet, and some from far, By cordial love invited.	147
Troubles of this world are vain as billows in a tossing sea.	148
Light as a sunbeam glides along the hills She vanished.	149
Vivid as a dream.	150
A fall of voice, Regretted like the nightingale’s last note.	151
I wander’d lonely as a cloud That floats on high o’er vales and hills.	152
Wanders like a gliding ghost.	153
Warm as sunshine.	154
Watchful as a wheeling eagle.	155
Weak as a lamb the hour that it is yeaned.	156
Welcome as a star.	157
Wild and rude As ever hue-and-cry pursued, As ever ran a felon’s race.	158

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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