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Simile is an Italian musical term meaning "similarly"; it indicates that the performer should continue to apply the preceding directive, whatever it was. For example, a series of dynamic changes to be repeated in many measures would make the music crowded and harder to read if written out in full, so the engraver might insert a simile directive after the first measure of the changes. The performer would then know to continue the dynamic pattern in the following measures.
A simile is a figure of speech in which the subject is compared to another subject, for example, "as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs". Frequently, similes are marked by use of the words like or as, "The snow was like a blanket". However, "The snow blanketed the earth" is also a simile and not a metaphor because the verb blanketed is a shortened form of the phrase covered like a blanket.
The phrase "The snow was a blanket over the earth" is the metaphor in this case. Metaphors differ from similes in that the two objects are not compared, but treated as identical, "We are but a moment's sunlight, fading in the grass."
See also tertium comparationis.
List of notable similes
- Suspicion climbed all over her face, like a kitten, but not so playfully Raymond Chandler
- She was like a pretty kite that floated above my head Maya Angelou
- Love is like the devil; whom it has in its clutches it surrounds with flames Honor้ de Balzac
- Exuding good will like a mortician's convention in a plague year Daniel Berrigan
- Guiltless forever, like a tree Robert Browning
- Idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- As good as gold Charles Dickens
- Yellow butterflies flickered along the shade like flecks of sun William Faulkner
- Woo the moon like the tide Vladimir MayakovskyVladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky ( July 7 (O. July 19 (N. 1893 April 14, 1930) was among the foremost representatives for the poetic futurism of early 20th century Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union. He was born the third child in Bagdadi, Georgia where
- Death has many times invited me: it was like the salt invisible in the waves Pablo NerudaPablo Neruda ( July 12, 1904 September 23, 1973), Chilean poet, considered one of the most important Latin American literary figures of the 20th century. His real name was Neftali Reyes Basoalto (in full, Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto . He used t
- Solitude...is like Spanish moss which finally suffocates the tree it hangs on Ana๏s NinAnais Nin ( February 21, 1903 January 14, 1977) was a French author who became famous for her self-published diaries, which span a period of forty years, beginning when she was twelve years old. Born in Neuilly, France, after her parents separated, her mo
- Jubilant as a flag unfurled Dorothy ParkerDorothy Parker (born Dorothy Rothschild) ( August 22, 1893 June 7, 1967) was an American writer and poet best known for her caustic wit, wisecracks, and sharp eye for 20th century urban foibles. Born in West End, New Jersey, Parker first sold some poems t
- Wide sleeves fluttering like wings Marcel ProustValentin-Louis-Georges-Eugene-Marcel Proust ( July 10, 1871 November 18, 1922) was a French intellectual, novelist, essayist and critic, best known as the author of In Search of Lost Time la recherche du temps perdu also translated previously as Remembran
- Death lies on her, like an untimely frost William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare born April 1564; baptised April 26, 1564; died April 23, 1616 ( O. May 3, 1616 ( N. has a reputation as the greatest writer the English language has ever known. Indeed, the English Renaissance has often been called "the age of Shakespe
- The trees wavered their stark shadows across the snow like supplicating arms Leo TolstoyLeo Nikolayevitch Tolstoy ( September 9, 1828 some sources say August 28 November 20, 1910) was a Russian novelist, reformer, and moral thinker, notable for his influence on Russian literature and politics. As a count, Tolstoy was a member of the Russian
- A mouth drawn in like a miser's purse ษmile Zolamile Zola ( April 2, 1840 September 29, 1902) was an influential French novelist, the most important example of the literary school of naturalism, and a major figure in the political liberalization of France. Born in Paris, France, the son of an Italian e
- A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle; Irina Dunn , 1970
Rhetoric Figures of speech
