STRIKING SIMILES A A blind rage like a fire swept over him A book that rends and tears like a broken saw A breath of melancholy made itself felt A cloud in the west like a pall creeps upward A cloud like a flag from the sky A cluster of stars hangs like fruit in the tree A confused mass of impressions, like an old rubbish-heap A cry as of a sea-bird in the wind A dead leaf might as reasonably demand to return to the tree A drowsy murmur floats into the air like thistledown A face as imperturbable as fate A face as pale as wax A face tempered like steel A fatigued, faded, lusterless air, as of a caged creature A few pens parched by long disuse A figure like a carving on a spire A fluttering as of blind bewildered moths A giant galleon overhead, looked like some misty monster of the deep A glacial pang of pain like A glance that flitted like a bird A great moon like a red lamp in the sycamore A grim face like a carved mask A hand icily cold and clammy as death A heart from which noble sentiments sprang like sparks from an anvil A jeweler that glittered like his shop A lady that lean'd on his arm like a queen in a fable of old fairy days A life, a Presence, like the air A life as common and brown and bare as the box of earth in the window there A light wind outside the lattice swayed a branch of roses to and fro, shaking out their perfume as from a swung censer A lightning-phrase, as if shot from the quiver of infallible wisdom A list of our unread books torments some of us like a list of murders A little breeze ran through the corn like a swift serpent A little weed-clogged ship, gray as a ghost A long slit of daylight like a pointing finger A memory like a well-ordered cupboard A mighty wind, like a leviathan, plowed the brine A mind very like a bookcase A mystery, soft, soothing and gentle, like the whisper of a child murmuring its happiness in its sleep A name which sounds even now like the call of a trumpet A note of despairing appeal which fell A purpose as the steady flame A question deep almost as the mystery of life A quibbling mouth that snapped at verbal errors A radiant look came over her face, A reputation that swelled like a sponge A ruby like a drop of blood A shadow of melancholy touched her lithe fancies, A silver moon, like a new-stamped coin, rode triumphant in the sky A slow thought that crept like a cold worm through all his brain A smile flashed over her face, like sunshine over a flower A soft and purple mist like a vaporous amethyst A soft haze, like a fairy dream, is floating over wood and stream A soul as white as heaven A sound like the throb of a bell A stooping girl as pale as a pearl A sudden sense of fear ran through her nerves like the chill of an icy wind A sweet voice caroling like a gold-caged nightingale A thin shrill voice like the cry of an expiring mouse A thing of as frail enchantment as the gleam of stars upon snow A vague thought, as elusive as the smell of a primrose A vanishing loveliness as tender as the flush of the rose leaf and as ethereal as the light of a solitary star A voice as low as the sea A voice soft and sweet as a tune that one knows A white bird floats there, like a drifting leaf Against a sky as clear as sapphire Age, like winter weather Agile as a leopard Agitated like a storm-tossed ship Air like wine All around them like a forest swept the deep and All like an icicle it seemed, so tapering and cold All my life broke up, like some great river's ice at touch of spring All silent as the sheeted dead All sounds were lost in the whistle of air humming by like the flight of a million arrows All that's beautiful drifts away like the waters All the world lay stretched before him like the open palm of his hand All unconscious as a flower Alone, like a storm-tossed wreck, on this night of the glad New Year An anxiety hung like a dark impenetrable cloud An ardent face out-looking like a star An ecstasy which suddenly overwhelms your mind like an unexpected and exquisite thought An envious wind crept by like an unwelcome thought An ideal as sublime and comprehensive as the horizon An immortal spirit dwelt in that frail body, like a bird in an outworn cage An impudent trick as hackneyed as conjuring rabbits out of a hat An indefinable resemblance to a goat An isle of Paradise, fair as a gem An old nodding negress whose sable head shined in the sun like a polished cocoanut An omnibus across the bridge crawls like a yellow butterfly An undefined sadness seemed to have fallen about her like a cloud An unknown world, wild as primeval chaos An unpleasing strain, like the vibration of a rope drawn out too fast And a pinnace like a flutter'd bird came flying from afar And a tear like silver, glistened in the corner of her eye And all our thoughts ran into tears like sunshine into rain And at first the road comes moving toward me, like a bride waving palms And Dusk, with breast as of a dove, brooded And eyes as bright as the day And fell as cold as a lump of clay And her cheek was like a rose And here were forests ancient as the hills And many a fountain, rivulet, and pond, And melting like the stars in June And night, as welcome as a friend And silence like a poultice comes to heal the blows of sound And spangled o'er with twinkling points, like stars And the smile she softly uses fills the silence like a speech As a child in play scatters the heaps of sand As a cloud that gathers her robe like drifted snow As a flower after a drought drinks in the steady plunging rain As a leaf that beats on a mountain As a lion grieves at the loss of her whelps As a man plowing all day longs for supper and welcomes sunset As a sea disturbed by opposing winds As amusing as a litter of likely young pigs As arbitrary as a cyclone and as killing as a pestilence As austere as a Roman matron As beautiful as the purple flush of dawn As blind as a mole As brief as sunset clouds in heaven As bright as sunlight on a stream As busy as a bee As cattle driven by a gadfly As chimney sweepers come to dust As clear as a whistle As clear as the parts of a tree in the morning sun As close as oak and ivy stand As delicate and as fair as a lily As delightful to the mind as cool well-water to thirsty lip As diamond cuts diamond As direct and unvarying as the course of a homing bird As distinct as night and morning As dry as desert dust As dumb as a fish As easily as the sun shines As easy as a turn of the hand As elastic as a steel spring As extinct as the dodo As faint as the memory of a sound As familiar to him as his alphabet As fatal as the fang of the most venomous snake As fleeting and elusive as our dreams As foam from a ship's swiftness As fresh and invigorating as a sea-breeze As full of eager vigor as a mountain stream As full of spirit as a gray squirrel As gay and busy as a brook As gently as the flower gives forth its perfume As gently as withered leaves float from a tree As graceful as a bough As grave as a judge As great as the first day of creation As high as heaven As I dropped like a bolt from the blue As I dwelt like a sparrow among the spires As if a door were suddenly left ajar into some world unseen before As impossible as to count the stars in illimitable space As in the footsteps of a god As inaccessible to his feet as the clefts and gorges of the clouds As inexorable as the flight of time As innocent as a new laid egg As iridescent as a soap bubble As locusts gather to a stream before a fire As mellow and deep as a psalm As men strip for a race, so must an author strip for the race with time As merry as bees in clover As nimble as water As one who has climbed above the earth's eternal snowline and sees only white peaks and pinnacles As pale as any ghost As patient as the trees As quick as the movement of some wild animal As quiet as a nun breathless with adoration As radiant as the rose As readily and naturally as ducklings take to water As reticent as a well-bred stockbroker As ruthlessly as the hoof of a horse tramples on a rose As shallow streams run dimpling all the way As simple as the intercourse of a child with its mother As sleep falls upon the eyes of a child As some vast river of unfailing source As stars that shoot along the sky As still as a stone As stupid as a sheep As sudden as a dislocated joint slipping back into place As summer winds that creep from flower to flower As supple as a step-ladder As swaggering and sentimental as a penny novellete As swift as thought As the accumulation of snowflakes makes the avalanche As the bubble is extinguished in the ocean As the dew upon the roses warms and melts the morning light As the fair cedar, fallen before the breeze, As the light straw flies in dark'ning whirlwinds As the lightning cleaves the night As the loud blast that tears the skies As the slow shadows of the pointed grass mark the eternal periods As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance As though a rose should shut, and be a bud again As though Pharaoh should set the Israelites As unapproachable as a star As weird as the elfin lights As well try to photograph the other side of the moon At extreme tension, like a drawn bow Away he rushed like a cyclone Awkward as a cart-horse B Babbling like a child Balmy in manner as a bland southern morning Be like the granite of thy rock-ribbed land Beauteous she looks as a water-lily Beautiful as the dawn, dominant as the sun Beauty maddens the soul like wine Beheld great Babel, wrathful, beautiful, Beneath a sky as fair as summer flowers Bent like a wand of willow Black as a foam-swept rock Black his hair as the wintry night Blithe as a bird [blithe = carefree and lighthearted] Bounded by the narrow fences of life Bowed like a mountain Breaking his oath and resolution like a twist of rotten silk Breathed like a sea at rest Bright as a diamond in the sun Bright as a fallen fragment of the sky Bright as the coming forth of the morning, in the cloud of an early shower Bright as the sunbeams Bright as the tear of an angel, glittered a lonely star Brilliant and gay as a Greek Brisk as a wasp in the sunshine Brittle and bent like a bow Bronze-green beetles tumbled over stones, and lay helpless on their backs with the air of an elderly clergyman knocked down by an omnibus Brown as the sweet smelling loam Brute terrors like the scurrying of rats in a deserted attic Buried in his library like a mouse in a cheese Burns like a living coal in the soul But across it, like a mob's menace, fell the thunder But thou art fled, like some frail exhalation Butterflies like gems C Calm as the night Calm like a flowing river Calm like a mountain brooding o'er the sea Calmly dropping care like a mantle from her shoulders Cast thy voice abroad like thunder Charm upon charm in her was packed, like rose-leaves in a costly vase Chaste as the icicle Cheeks as soft as July peaches Chill breath of winter Choked by the thorns and brambles of early adversity Cities scattered over the world like ant-hills Cities that rise and sink like bubbles Clear and definite like the glance of a child or the voice of a girl Clear as a forest pool Clear as crystal Clenched little hands like rumpled roses, dimpled and dear Cloud-like that island hung afar Clouds like the petals of a rose Cloudy mirror of opinion Cold and hard as steel Cold as the white rose waking at daybreak Cold, glittering monotony like frosting around a cake Collapsed like a concertina Colored like a fairy tale Companionless as the last cloud of an expiring storm whose thunder is its knell Consecration that like a golden thread Constant as gliding waters Contending like ants for little molehill realms Continuous as the stars that shine Cowslips, like chance-found gold Creeds like robes are laid aside Creeping like a snail, unwillingly to school Cruel as death Curious as a lynx Cuts into the matter as with a pen of fire D Dainty as flowers Dance like a wave of the sea Dark and deep as night Dark as pitch Dark trees bending together as though whispering secrets Dazzling white as snow in sunshine Deafening and implacable as some elemental force Dear as remembered kisses after death Dear as the light that visits these sad eyes Dearer than night to the thief Debasing fancies gather like foul birds Deep as the fathomless sea Deep dark well of sorrow Delicate as nymphs Delicate as the flush on a rose or the sculptured line on a Grecian urn Denominational lines like stone walls Dependency had dropped from her like a cast-off cloak Despondency clung to him like a garment that is wet Destructive as the lightning flash Die like flies Dip and surge lightly to and fro, like the red harbor-buoy Disappearing into distance like a hazy sea Dissatisfaction had settled on his mind like a shadow Dissolve like some unsubstantial vision faded Do make a music like to rustling satin Dogging them like their own shadow Dost thou not hear the murmuring nightingale Drop like a feather, softly to the ground Drowned like rats Dull as champagne E Each like a corpse within its grave Each moment was an iridescent bubble fresh-blown from the lips of fancy Eager-hearted as a boy Eager with the headlong zest of a hunter for the game Ears that seemed as deaf as dead man's ears Easy as a poet's dream Emotions flashed across her face Eternal as the skies Evanescent as bubbles [evanescent = vanishing like vapor] Every flake that fell from heaven was like an angel's kiss Every lineament was clear as in the sculptor's thought [lineament = characteristic feature] Everyone on the watch, like a falcon on its nest Every phrase is like the flash of a scimitar Exploded like a penny squib Eyes as deeply dark as are the desert skies Eyes as luminous and bright and brown as waters of a woodland river Eyes half veiled by slumberous tears, Eyes like a very dark topaz Eyes like deep wells of compassionate gloom Eyes like limpid pools in shadow Eyes like mountain water that o'erflowing on a rock F Faces pale with bliss, like evening stars Fade away like a cloud in the horizon Faint and distant as the light of a sun that has long set Faintly, like a falling dew Fair and fleet as a fawn Fair as a star when only one is shining in the sky Fallen like dead leaves on the highway Falling away like a speck in space Fanciful and extravagant as a caliph's dream Fawning like dumb neglected lap-dogs Felt her breath upon his cheek like a perfumed air Fields of young grain and verdured pastures like crushed velvet Fierce as a bear in defeat Fierce as the flames Fills life up like a cup with bubbling and sparkling liquor Fit closely together as the close-set stones of a building Fix'd like a beacon-tower above the waves of a tempest Flame like a flag unfurled Flap loose and slack like a drooping sail Flashed with the brilliancy of a well-cut jewel Fled like sweet dreams Fleet as an arrow Flitted like a sylph on wings Flowers as soft as thoughts of budding love Fluent as a rill, that wanders silver-footed down a hill Fluid as thought Fluttered like gilded butterflies in giddy mazes Fragile as a spider's web Free as the air, from zone to zone I flew Free as the winds that caress Fresh and unworn as the sea that breaks languidly beside them Fresh as a jewel found but yesterday Fresh as the first beam glittering on a sail Frightened like a child in the dark Full-throated as the sea Furious as eagles G Gazed like a star into the morning light Glaring like noontide Gleam like a diamond on a dancing girl Glistening like threads of gold Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tangled in a silver braid Glittering like an aigrette of stars Gone astray as a sheep that is lost Gone like a glow on the cloud at the close of day Gone like tenants that quit without warning Gorgeous as the hues of heaven Grazing through a circulating library Great scarlet poppies lay in drifts and heaps, H Hair as harsh as tropical grass and gray as ashes Hangs like a blue thread loosen'd from the sky Hard, sharp, and glittering as a sword Harnessed men, like beasts of burden, drew it to the river-side Haunts you like the memory of some former happiness He began to laugh with that sibilant laugh He bent upon the lightning page like some rapt poet o'er his rhyme He bolted down the stairs like a hare He clatters like a windmill He danced like a man in a swarm of hornets He fell as falls some forest lion, fighting well He fell down on my threshold like a wounded stag He had acted exactly like an automaton He lay as straight as a mummy He lay like a warrior taking his rest He lived as modestly as a hermit He looked fagged and sallow, like the day [fagged = worked to exhaustion] He looked with the bland, expressionless stare of an overgrown baby He played with grave questions as a cat plays with a mouse He radiated vigor and abundance like a happy child He sat down quaking like a jelly He saw disaster like a ghostly figure following her He snatched furiously at breath like a tiger snatching at meat He spoke with a uniformity of emphasis He swayed in the sudden grip of anger He sweeps the field of battle like a monsoon He that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed He turned on me like a thunder-cloud He turned white as chalk He wandered restlessly through the house, like a prowling animal He was as splendidly serious as a reformer He was as steady as a clock He was as wax in those clever hands He was bold as the hawk He was so weak now, like a shrunk cedar white with the hoar-frost Hearts unfold like flowers before thee Heavy was my heart as stone Heeled like an avalanche to leeward Her arms like slumber o'er my shoulders crept Her banners like a thousand sunsets glow Her beauty broke on him like some rare flower Her beauty fervent as a fiery moon Her breath is like a cloud Her cheeks are like the blushing cloud Her cheeks were wan and her eyes like coals Her dusky cheek would burn like a poppy Her expression changed with the rapidity of a kaleidoscope Her eyes as bright as a blazing star Her eyes as stars of twilight fair Her eyes, glimmering star-like in her pale face Her eyes were as a dove that sickeneth Her face changed with each turn of their talk, Her face collapsed as if it were a pricked balloon Her face was as solemn as a mask Her face was dull as lead Her face was like a light Her face was passionless, Her hair dropped on her pallid cheeks, like sea-weed on a clam Her hair hung down like summer twilight Her hair shone like a nimbus Her hair was like a coronet Her hands are white as the virgin rose that she wore on her wedding day Her hands like moonlight brush the keys Her head dropped into her hands like a storm-broken flower Her heart has grown icy as a fountain in the fall Her holy love that like a vestal flame had burned Her impulse came and went like fireflies in the dusk Her lashes like fans upon her cheek Her laugh is like a rainbow-tinted spray Her lips are like two budded roses Her lips like a lovely song that ripples as it flows Her lips like twilight water Her little lips are tremulous as brook-water is Her long black hair danced round her like a snake Her mouth as sweet as a ripe fig Her neck is like a stately tower Her pale robe clinging to the grass seemed like a snake Her pulses flutter'd like a dove Her skin was as the bark of birches Her sweetness halting like a tardy May Her two white hands like swans on a frozen lake Her voice cut like a knife Her voice like mournful bells crying on the wind Her voice was like the voice the stars had when they sang together Her voice was rich and vibrant, like the middle notes of a 'cello Her words sounding like wavelets on a summer shore Herding his thoughts as a collie dog herds sheep Here and there a solitary volume greeted him Here in statue-like repose, an old wrinkled mountain rose Hers was the loveliness of some tall white lily cut in marble, splendid but chill His bashfulness melted like a spring frost His brow bent like a cliff o'er his thoughts His cheeks were furrowed and writhen like rain-washed crags [writhen = twisted] His eyes blazed like deep forests His eyes glowed like blue coals His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like moldy hay His face burnt like a brand His face was glad as dawn to me His face was often lit up by a smile like pale wintry sunshine His fingers were knotted like a cord His formal kiss fell chill as a flake of snow on the cheek His fortune melted away like snow in a thaw His glorious moments were strung like pearls upon a string His indifference fell from him like a garment His invectives and vituperations bite and flay like steel whips [invective = abusive language] His mind murmurs like a harp among the trees His mind was like a lonely wild His mind was like a summer sky His nerves thrilled like throbbing violins His retort was like a knife-cut across the sinews His revenge descends perfect, sudden, like a curse from heaven His spirits sank like a stone His talk is like an incessant play of fireworks His voice is as the thin faint song His voice rose like a stream of rich distilled perfumes His voice was like the clap of thunder His whole soul wavered and shook like a wind-swept leaf His words gave a curious satisfaction, Hopeful as the break of day How like a saint she sleeps How like a winter hath my absence been How like the sky she bends over her child Howling in the wilderness like beasts Huge as a hippopotamus Humming-birds like lake of purple fire Hushed as the grave Hushed like a breathless lyre I I had grown pure as the dawn and the dew I have heard the Hiddon People like the hum of swarming bees I have seen the ravens flying, like banners of old wars I saw a face bloom like a flower I saw a river of men marching like a tide I saw his senses swim dizzy as clouds I wander'd lonely as a cloud I was as sensitive as a barometer I was no more than a straw on the torrent of his will I will face thy wrath though it bite as a sword Ideas which spread with the speed of light Idle hopes, like empty shadows Impassive as a statue Impatient as the wind Impregnable as Gibraltar Impressive as a warrant of arrest for high treason Incredible little white teeth, like snow shut in a rose Infrequent carriages sped like mechanical toys guided by manikins In honor spotless as unfallen snow In that head of his a flame burnt that was like an altar-fire In yonder cottage shines a light, far-gleaming like a gem Instantly she revived like flowers in water Intangible as a dream It came and faded like a wreath of mist at eve It cuts like knives, this air so chill It drops away like water from a smooth statue It pealed through her brain like a muffled bell It poured upon her like a trembling flood It racked his ears like an explosion of steam-whistles It ran as clear as a trout-brook It seems as motionless and still as the zenith in the skies It set his memories humming like a hive of bees It staggered the eye, like the sight of water running up hill It stung like a frozen lash It was as futile as to oppose an earthquake with argument It was as if a door had been opened into a furnace, so the eyes blazed It would collapse as if by enchantment Its temples and its palaces did seem J Jealousy, fierce as the fires K Kindle like an angel's wings the western skies in flame Kindly mornings when autumn and winter Kingdoms melt away like snow L Laboring like a giant Languid streams that cross softly, slowly, Laughter like a beautiful bubble from the rosebud of baby-hood Laughter like the sudden outburst of the glad bird in the tree-top Lazy merchantmen that crawled like flies over the blue enamel of the sea Leapt like a hunted stag Let his frolic fancy play, like a happy child Let in confusion like a whirling flood Let thy mouth murmur like the doves Life had been arrested, as the horologist, Life stretched before him alluring and various as the open road Life sweet as perfume and pure as prayer Light as a snowflake Lights gleamed there like stars in a still sky Like a ball of ice it glittered in a frozen sea of sky Like a blade sent home to its scabbard Like a blast from a horn Like a blast from the suddenly opened door of a furnace Like a blossom blown before a breeze, Like a bright window in a distant view Like a caged lion shaking the bars of his prison Like a calm flock of silver-fleeced sheep Like a cloud of fire Like a cold wind his words went through their flesh Like a crowd of frightened porpoises a shoal of sharks pursue Like a damp-handed auctioneer Like a deaf and dumb man wondering what it was all about Like a dew-drop, ill-fitted to sustain unkindly shocks Like a dipping swallow the stout ship dashed through the storm Like a distant star glimmering steadily in the darkness Like a dream she vanished Like a festooned girdle encircling the waist of a bride Like a flower her red lips parted Like a game in which the important part is to keep from laughing Like a glow-worm golden Like a golden-shielded army Like a great express train, roaring, flashing, dashing head-long Like a great fragment of the dawn it lay Like a great ring of pure and endless light Like a great tune to which the planets roll Like a high and radiant ocean Like a high-born maiden Like a jewel every cottage casement showed Like a joyless eye that finds no object worth its constancy Like a knight worn out by conflict Like a knot of daisies lay the hamlets on the hill Like a lily in bloom Like a living meteor Like a locomotive-engine with unsound lungs Like a long arrow through the dark the train is darting Like a mirage, vague, dimly seen at first Like a miser who spoils his coat with scanting a little cloth [scanting = short] Like a mist the music drifted from the silvery strings Like a moral lighthouse in the midst of a dark and troubled sea Like a murmur of the wind came a gentle sound of stillness Like a noisy argument in a drawing-room Like a pageant of the Golden Year, in rich memorial pomp the hours go by Like a pale flower by some sad maiden cherished Like a poet hidden Like a river of molten amethyst Like a rocket discharging a shower of golden stars Like a rose embower'd in its own green leaves Like a sea of upturned faces Like a shadow never to be overtaken Like a shadow on a fair sunlit landscape Like a sheeted ghost Like a ship tossed to and fro on the waves of life's sea Like a slim bronze statue of Despair Like a snow-flake lost in the ocean Like a soul that wavers in the Valley of the Shadow Like a stalled horse that breaks loose Like a star, his love's pure face looked down Like a star that dwelt apart Like a star, unhasting, unresting Like a stone thrown at random Like a summer cloud, youth indeed has crept away Like a summer-dried fountain Like a swift eagle in the morning glare Like a thing at rest Like a thing read in a book or remembered out of the faraway past Like a tide of triumph through their veins, Like a triumphing fire the news was borne Like a troop of boys let loose from school, the adventurers went by Like a vaporous amethyst Like a vision of the morning air Like a voice from the unknown regions Like a wandering star I fell through the deeps of desire Like a watch-worn and weary sentinel Like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed Like a whirlwind they went past Like a withered leaf the moon is blown across the bay Like a world of sunshine Like a yellow silken scarf the thick fog hangs Like an alien ghost I stole away Like an eagle clutching his prey, his arm swooped down Like an eagle dallying with the wind Like an engine of dread war, he set his shoulder to the mountain-side Like an enraged tiger Like an enthusiast leading about with him an indifferent tourist Like an icy wave, a swift and tragic impression swept through him Like an unbidden guest Like an unbodied joy whose race is just begun Like an unseen star of birth Like an unwelcome thought Like apparitions seen and gone Like attempting to number the waves on the snore of a limitless sea Like bells that waste the moments with their loudness Like blasts of trumpets blown in wars Like bright Apollo Like bright lamps, the fabled apples glow Like building castles in the air Like bursting waves from the ocean Like cliffs which have been rent asunder Like clouds of gnats with perfect lineaments Like cobwebs woven round the limbs of an infant giant Like crystals of snow Like dead lovers who died true Like Death, who rides upon a thought, Like dew upon a sleeping flower Like dining with a ghost Like drawing nectar in a sieve Like earth's decaying leaves Like echoes from a hidden lyre Like echoes from an antenatal dream Like fixed eyes, whence the dear light of sense and thought has fled Like footsteps upon wool Like fragrance from dead flowers Like ghosts, from an enchanter fleeing Like ghosts the sentries come and go Like golden boats on a sunny sea Like great black birds, the demons haunt the woods Like green waves on the sea Like having to taste a hundred exquisite dishes in a single meal Like Heaven's free breath, which he who grasps can hold not Like helpless birds in the warm nest Like iridescent bubbles floating on a foul stream Like kindred drops mingled into one Like laying a burden on the back of a moth Like lead his feet were Like leaves in wintry weather Like leviathans afloat Like lighting a candle to the sun Like making a mountain out of a mole-hill Like mariners pulling the life-boat Like mice that steal in and out as if they feared the light Like mountain over mountain huddled Like mountain streams we meet and part Like music on the water Like notes which die when born, but still haunt the echoes of the hill Like oceans of liquid silver Like one pale star against the dusk, Like one who halts with tired wings Like one who talks of what he loves in dream Like organ music came the deep reply Like pageantry of mist on an autumnal stream Like phantoms gathered by the sick imagination Like planets in the sky Like pouring oil on troubled waters Like roses that in deserts bloom and die Like rowing upstream against a strong downward current Like scents from a twilight garden Like separated souls Like serpents struggling in a vulture's grasp Like sheep from out the fold of the sky, stars leapt Like ships that have gone down at sea Like shy elves hiding from the traveler's eye Like skeletons, the sycamores uplift their wasted hands Like some grave night thought threading a dream Like some new-gathered snowy hyacinth, Like some poor nigh-related guest, that may not rudely be dismist Like some suppressed and hideous thought which flits athwart our musings, but can find no rest within a pure and gentle mind Like some unshriven churchyard thing, the friar crawled Like something fashioned in a dream Like sounds of wind and flood Like splendor-winged moths about a taper Like stepping out on summer evenings from the glaring ball-room upon the cool and still piazza Like straws in a gust of wind Like summer's beam and summer's stream Like sunlight, in and out the leaves, the robins went Like sweet thoughts in a dream Like the awful shadow of some unseen power Like the bellowing of bulls Like the boar encircled by hunters and hounds Like the bubbles on a river sparkling, bursting, borne away Like the cold breath of the grave Like the creaking of doors held stealthily ajar Like the cry of an itinerant vendor in a quiet and picturesque town Like the dance of some gay sunbeam Like the dawn of the morn Like the detestable and spidery araucaria Like the dew on the mountain Like the dim scent in violets Like the drifting foam of a restless sea Like the embodiment of a perfect rose, complete in form and fragrance Like the faint cry of unassisted woe Like the faint exquisite music of a dream Like the fair flower dishevel'd in the wind Like the fair sun, when in his fresh array he cheers the morn, and all the earth revealeth Like the falling thud of the blade of a murderous ax Like the fierce fiend of a distempered dream Like the fitting of an old glove to a hand Like the foam on the river Like the great thunder sounding Like the jangling of all the strings of some musical instrument Like the jewels that gleam in baby eyes Like the kiss of maiden love the breeze is sweet and bland Like the long wandering love, the weary heart may faint for rest Like the moon in water seen by night Like the music in the patter of small feet Like the prodigal whom wealth softens into imbecility Like the quivering image of a landscape in a flowing stream Like the rainbow, thou didst fade Like the rustling of grain moved by the west-wind Like the sap that turns to nectar, in the velvet of the peach Like the sea whose waves are set in motion by the winds Like the sea-worm, that perforates the shell of the mussel, which straightway closes the wound with a pearl Like the setting of a tropical sun Like the shadow of a great hill that reaches far out over the plain Like the shadows of the stars in the upheaved sea Like the shudder of a doomed soul Like the silver gleam when the poplar trees Like the soft light of an autumnal day Like the Spring-time, fresh and green Like the stern-lights of a ship at sea, Like the sudden impulse of a madman Like the swell of Summer's ocean Like the tattered effigy in a cornfield Like the vase in which roses have once been distill'd Like the visits of angels, short and far between Like the whole sky when to the east the morning doth return Like thistles of the wilderness, fit neither for food nor fuel Like those great rivers, whose course everyone beholds, but their springs have been seen by but few Like thoughts whose very sweetness Like to diamonds her white teeth shone between the parted lips Like torrents from a mountain source, we rushed into each other's arms Like troops of ghosts on the dry wind past Like two doves with silvery wings, let our souls fly Like two flaming stars were his eyes Like vaporous shapes half seen Like village curs that bark when their fellows do Like wasted hours of youth Like winds that bear sweet music, Like wine-stain to a flask the old distrust still clings Like winged stars the fire-flies flash and glance Like young lovers whom youth and love make dear Lingering like an unloved guest Lithe as a panther Little white hands like pearls Lofty as a queen Loneliness struck him like a blow Looked back with faithful eyes like a great mastiff to his master's face Looking as sulky as the weather itself Looking like a snarling beast baulked of its prey Loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed Lost like the lightning in the sullen clod Love as clean as starlight Love brilliant as the morning Love had like the canker-worm consumed her early prime Love is a changing lord as the light on a turning sword Love like a child around the world doth run Love like a miser in the dark his joys would hide Love shakes like a windy reed your heart Love smiled like an unclouded sun Love that sings and has wings as a bird Lovely as starry water Lovely the land unknown and like a river flowing M March on my soul nor like the laggard stay Me on whose heart as a worm she trod Meaningless as the syllables of an unknown tongue Men moved hither and thither like insects in their crevices Mentality as hard as bronze Mentally round-shouldered and decrepit Merge imperceptibly into one another like the hues of the prism Meteors that dart like screaming birds Milk-white pavements, clear and richly pale, like alabaster More variegated than the skin of a serpent Motion like the spirit of that wind whose soft step deepens slumber Motionless as a plumb line Mountains like frozen wrinkles on a sea Moving in the same dull round, like blind horses in a mill Mute as an iceberg My age is as a lusty Winter My body broken as a turning wheel My breath to Heaven like vapor goes My head was like a great bronze bell with one thought for the clapper My heart is as some famine-murdered land My heart is like a full sponge and must weep a little My heart like a bird doth hover My heart will be as wind fainting in hot grass My life floweth away like a river My life was white as driven snow My love for thee is like the sovereign moon that rules the sea My love's like the steadfast sun My lungs began to crow like chanticleer [chanticleer = rooster] My mind swayed idly like a water-lily in a lake My muscles are as steel My skin is as sallow as gold My soul was as a lampless sea My spirit seemed to beat the void, like the bird from out the ark My thoughts came yapping and growling round me like a pack of curs My thoughts ran leaping through the green ways of my mind like fawns at play N Night falls like fire No longer shall slander's venomed spite crawl Now every nerve in my body seemed like a strained harp-string ready to snap at a touch Now like a wild nymph she veils her shadowy form Now like a wild rose in the fields of heaven Now memory and emotion surged in my soul like a tempest Now thou seemest like a bankrupt beau, stripped of his gaudy hues O Obscured with wrath as is the sun with cloud Odorous as all Arabia Often enough life tosses like a fretful stream among rocky boulders Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud Old as the evening star Old happy hours that have long folded their wings Once again, like madness, the black shapes of doubt swing through his brain One bleared star, faint glimmering like a bee One bright drop is like the gem that decks a monarch's crown One by one flitting like a mournful bird One deep roar as of a cloven world One winged cloud above like a spread dragon overhangs the west Oppressed by the indefiniteness which hung in her mind, like a thick summer haze Or shedding radiance like the smiles of God Our enemies were broken like a dam of river reeds Our hearts bowed down like violets after rain Our sail like a dew-lit blossom shone Overhead the intense blue of the noonday sky burst like a jewel in the sun P Pale and grave as a sculptured nun Pale as a drifting blossom Passed like a phantom into the shadows Passive and tractable as a child Peaceful as a village cricket-green on Sunday Peevish and impatient, like some ill-trained man who is sick Perished utterly, like a blown-out flame Philosophy evolved itself, like a vast spider's loom Pillowed upon its alabaster arms Polished as the bosom of a star Poured his heart out like the rending sea in passionate wave on wave Pouting like the snowy buds o' roses in July Presently she hovered like a fluttering leaf or flake of snow Pride and self-disgust served her Proud as the proudest of church dignitaries Pure as a wild-flower Pure as the azure above them Pure as the naked heavens Pure as the snowy leaves that fold over the flower's heart Purple, crimson, and scarlet, like the curtains of God's tabernacle Put on gravity like a robe Q Quaking and quivering like a short-haired puppy after a ducking Questions and answers sounding like a continuous popping of corks Quiet as a nun's face Quietly as a cloud he stole Quietude which seemed to him beautiful as clear depths of water Quivering like an eager race-horse to start R Rage, rage ye tears, that never more should creep Ran like a young fawn Rattle in the ear like a flourish of trumpets Rays springing from the east like golden arrows Red as the print of a kiss might be Redolent with the homely scent of old-fashioned herbs and flowers Reflected each in the other like stars in a lake Refreshed like dusty grass after a shower Refreshing as descending rains to sunburnt climes Remote as the hidden star Restless as a blue-bottle fly on a warm summer's day Revealed his doings like those of bees in a glass hive Rich as the dawn Ride like the wind through the night Rivers that like silver threads Roared like mountain torrents Rolling it under the tongue as a sweet morsel Round my chair the children run like little things of dancing gold Ruddy as sunrise Ruddy his face as the morning light Ruffling out his cravat with a crackle of starch, Running to and fro like frightened sheep Rushing and hurrying about like a June-bug S Sanctuaries where the passions may, like wild falcons, cover their faces with their wings Sayings that stir the blood like the sound of a trumpet Scattered love as stars do light Sea-gulls flying like flakes of the sea Sentences level and straight like a hurled lance Shadowy faces, known in dreams, pass as petals upon a stream Shake like an aspen leaf Shaken off like a nightmare Shapeless as a sack of wool Shattered like so much glass She brightened like a child whose broken toy is glued together She could summon tears as one summons servants She danced like a flower in the wind She disclaimed the weariness that She exuded a faint and intoxicating perfume of womanliness, like a crushed herb She felt like an unrepentant criminal She fled like a spirit from the room She flounders like a huge conger-eel in an ocean of dingy morality She gave him a surprised look, She gave off antipathies as a liquid gives off vapor She has great eyes like the doe She heard him like one in a dream She let the soft waves of her deep hair fall like flowers from Paradise She looked like a tall golden candle She looked like the picture of a young rapt saint, lost in heavenly musing She moved like mirth incarnate She nestles like a dove She played with a hundred possibilities She played with grave cabinets as a cat plays with a mouse She saw this planet like a star hung in the glistening depths of even She seemed as happy as a wave that dances on the sea She shall be sportive as the fawn She stood silent a moment, dropping before him like a broken branch She that passed had lips like pinks She walked like a galley-slave She walks in beauty like the night She was as brilliant, and as hard too, as electric light She was silent, standing before him like a little statuesque figure Shining like the dewy star of dawn Shivering pine-trees, like phantoms Showy as damask-rose and shy as musk Shrill as the loon's call Shrivel like paper thrust into a flame Shy as the squirrel Sights seen as a traveling swallow might see them on the wing Silence deep as death Silence now is brooding Silence that seemed heavy and dark; like a passing cloud Sinks clamorous like mill-waters at wild play Sits like the maniac on his fancied throne Skies as clear as babies' eyes Sleek and thick and yellow as gold Slender and thin as a slender wire Slowly as a tortoise Slowly as the finger of a clock, her shadow came Slowly moved off and disappeared Slowly, unnoted, like the creeping rust Small as a grain of mustard seed Smooth as a pond Smooth as the pillar flashing in the sun Snug as a bug in a rug Soaring as swift as smoke from a volcano springs So elusive that the memory of it afterwards So my spirit beat itself like a caged bird against its prison bars in vain Soft as a zephyr Soft as sleep the snow fell Soft as Spring Soft as the down of the turtle dove Soft as the landscape of a dream Soft as the south-wind Soft in their color as gray pearls Soft vibrations of verbal melody, like the sound of a golden bell rung far down under the humming waters Some gleams of feeling pure and warm as sunshine on a sky of storm Some like veiled ghosts hurrying past Some minds are like an open fire -- how direct and instant our communication with them Something divine seemed to cling around her like some subtle vapor Something resistant and inert, like the obstinate rolling over of a heavy sleeper after he has been called to get up Something sharp and brilliant, like the glitter of a sword or a forked flash of lightning Sorrowful eyes like those of wearied kine spent from the plowing [kine = cows] Spread like wildfire Squirrel-in-the-cage kind of movement Stamping like a plowman to shuffle off the snow Stared about like calves in a pen Steadfast as the soul of truth Steals lingering like a river smooth Still as death Stood like a wave-beaten rock Straight as a ray of light Straight as an arrow Streamed like a meteor through the troubled air Streamed o'er his memory like a forest flame Streaming tears, like pearl drops from a flint Striking with the force of an engine of destruction Strong as a bison Style comes, if at all, like the bloom upon fruit, Subtle as jealousy Sudden a thought came like a full-blown rose, flushing his brow Sudden sprays of rain, like volleys of sharp arrows, rattled gustily against the windows Suddenly, like death, the truth flashed on them Sunbeams flashing on the face of things Sunday mornings which seem to put on, like a Sabbath garment, an atmosphere of divine quietude Supple and sweet as a rose in bloom Sway like blown moths against the rosewhite flame Sweet as a summer night without a breath Sweet as music she spoke Sweet as the rain at noon Sweet as the smile of a fairy Swift as a swallow heading south Swift as lightning Swift as the panther in triumph Swifter than the twinkling of an eye T Talking and thinking became to him like the open page of a monthly magazine Tall lance-like reeds wave sadly o'er his head That like a wounded snake drags its slow length along The anemone that weeps at day-break, like a silly girl before her lover The army blazed and glowed in the golden sunlight The army like a witch's caldron seethed The beating of her heart was like a drum The beauty of her quiet life was like a rose in blowing The billows burst like cannon down the coast The birds swam the flood of air like tiny ships The boat cuts its swift way through little waves like molten gold and opal The boom of the surf grew ever less sonorous, The breast-plate of righteousness The breathless hours like phantoms stole away The breeze is as a pleasant tune The calm white brow as calm as earliest morn The camp fire reddens like angry skies The chambers of the house were haunted by an incessant echoing, like some dripping cavern The church swarmed like a hive The city is all in a turmoil; it boils like a pot of lentils The clouds that move like spirits o'er the welkin clear [welkin = sky] The clustered apples burnt like flame The colored bulbs swung noon-like from tree and shrub The crimson close of day The curl'd moon was like a little feather The curling wreaths like turbans seem The dark hours are swept away like crumbling ashes The dark mass of her hair shook round her like a sea The dawn is rising from the sea, like a white lady from her bed The dawn had whitened in the mist like a dead face The dawn with silver-sandaled feet crept like a frightened girl. The day stunned me like light upon some wizard way The day was sweeter than honey and the honey-comb The day have trampled me like armed men The dead past flew away over the fens like a flight of wild swans The deep like one black maelstrom round her whirls The deepening east like a scarlet poppy burnt The desolate rocky hills rolled like a solid wave along the horizon The dome of heaven is like one drop of dew The dreams of poets come like music heard at evening from the depth of some enchanted forest The eagerness faded from his eyes, The earth was like a frying-pan, or some such hissing matter The eternal sea, which like a childless mother, The evening sky was as green as jade The excitement had spread through the whole house, The excitement of the thought The feathery meadows like a lilac sea The firm body like a slope of snow The first whiff of reality dissipated them like smoke The floor, newly waxed, gleamed in the candle-light like beaten moonbeams The fragrant clouds of hair, they flowed round him like a snare The gathering glory of life shone like the dawn The gesture was all strength and will, The girl's voice rang like a bird-call through his rustling fancies The glimmer of tall flowers standing The guides sniffed, like chamois, the air The heavens are like a scroll unfurled The hills across the valley were purple as thunder-clouds The hoofs of the horses rang like the dumb cadence of an old saga The hours crawled by like years The hum of the camp sounds like the sea The hurrying crowds of men gather like clouds The ideas succeeded each other like a dynasty of kings The impalpable presence of the new century no human feet had walked The inexorable facts closed in on him The lake glimmered as still as a mirror The land of gold seemed to hold him like a spell The land was like a dream The level boughs, like bars of iron across the setting sun The light of London flaring like a dreary dawn The lights blazed up like day The lilies were drooping, white, and wan, The mellowing hand of time The melody rose tenderly and lingeringly The Milky Way lay like diamond-dust upon the robe of some great king The monk's face whitened like sea-foam The moon drowsed between the trees like a great yellow moth The moon on the tower slept soft as snow The moonbeams rest like a pale spotless shroud The moonlight lay like snow The moonlight, like a fairy mist, upon the mesa spreads The mortal coldness of the soul, like death itself comes down The mountain shadows mingling, lay like pools above the earth The mountains loomed up dimly, like phantoms through the mist The music almost died away, then it burst like a pent-up flood The name that cuts into my soul like a knife The nervous little train winding its way like a jointed reptile The new ferns were spread upon the earth like some lacy coverlet The night like a battle-broken host is driven before The night yawned like a foul wind The ocean swelled like an undulating mirror of the bowl of heaven The old books look somewhat pathetically from the shelves, like aged dogs wondering why no one takes them for a walk The old infamy will pop into daylight The penalty falls like a thunderbolt from heaven The phrase was like a spear-thrust The pine trees waved as waves a woman's hair The place was like some enchanted town of palaces The plains to northward change their color The poppy burned like a crimson ember The prime of man has waxed like cedars The public press would chatter and make odd ambiguous sounds like a shipload of monkeys in a storm The purple heather rolls like dumb thunder The rainbows flashed like fire The river shouted as ever its cry of joy over the vitality of life, like a spirited boy before the face of inscrutable nature The roofs with their gables like hoods The roses lie upon the grass like little shreds of crimson silk The satire of the word cut like a knife The scullion with face shining like his pans The sea reeled round like a wine-vat splashing The sea-song of the trampling waves is as muffled bells The sea spread out like a wrinkled marble floor The sea, that gleamed still, like a myriad-petaled rose The sea was as untroubled as the turquoise vault which it reflected The setting of the sun is like a word of peace The sharp hail rattles against the panes and melts on my cheeks like tears The ships, like sheeted phantoms coming and going The silence seemed to crush to earth The silvery morning like a tranquil vision fills the world The sky burned like a heated opal The sky gleamed with the hardness and brilliancy of blue enamel The sky was as a shield The sky was clear and blue, and the air as soft as milk The sky was like a peach The sky where stars like lilies white and fair shine through the mists The solid air around me there heaved like a roaring ocean The solid mountains gleamed like the unsteady sea The soul is like a well of water springing up into everlasting life The sound is like a noon-day gale The sound is like a silver-fountain that springeth in a golden basin The sound of a thousand tears, like softly pattering wings The sound of your running feet that like the sea-hoofs beat The spear-tongued lightning slipped like a snake The Spring breaks like a bird The stacks of corn in brown array, like tattered wigwams on the plain The stars come down and trembling glow like blossoms on the waves below The stars lay on the lapis-lazuli sky The stars pale and silent as a seer The strange cold sense of aloofness that had numbed her senses suddenly gave way like snow melting in the spring The sudden thought of your face is like a wound when it comes unsought The sun, like a great dragon, writhes in gold The sun on the sea-wave lies white as the moon The surf was like the advancing lines of an unknown enemy flinging itself upon the shore The terrible past lay afar, like a dream left behind in the night The tide was in the salt-weed, and like a knife it tore The time, gliding like a dream The torrent from the hills The tree whose plumed boughs are soft as wings of birds The uproar and contention pierced him like arrows The veiled future bowed before me like a vision of promise The velvet grass that is like padding to earth's meager ribs The villa dips its foot in the lake, smiling at its reflection like a bather lingering on the brink The voice of Fate, crying like some old Bellman through the world The voice that rang in the night like a bugle call The warm kindling blood burned her cheeks like the breath of a hot wind The waves were rolling in, long and lazy, like sea-worn travelers The whole truth, naked, cold, and fatal as a patriot's blade The wind all round their ears hissed like a flight of white-winged geese The wind comes and it draws its length along The wine flows like blood The woman seemed like a thing of stone The words kept ringing in my ears like the tolling of a bell The words of the wise fall The world had vanished like a phantasmagoria The world is bitter as a tear The world is in a simmer, like a sea The world wavers within its circle like a dream The years stretched before her like some vast blank page out to receive the record of her toil The years vanished like a May snowdrift The yellow apples glowed like fire Their glances met like crossed swords Their joy like sunshine deep and broad falls on my heart Their minds rested upon the thought, Their music frightful as the serpent's hiss Their touch affrights me as a serpent's sting Then fall unheeded like the faded flower Then felt I like some watcher of the skies Then it swelled out to rich and glorious harmonies Then the lover sighing like furnace Theories sprouted in his mind like mushrooms There is an air about you like the air that folds a star There, like a bird, it sits and sings There seemed to brood in the air a quiet benevolence of a Father watching His myriad children at play There she soars like a seraph There she stood straight as a lily on its stem There slowly rose to sight, a country like a dragon fast asleep There streamed into the air the sweet smell of crushed grass, as though many fields had been pressed between giant's fingers and so had been left These eyes like stars have led me These final words snapped like a whip-lash These thoughts pierced me like thorns They are as cruel as creeping tigers They are as white foam on the swept sands They are as white swans in the dusk, thy white hands They are painted sharp as death They broke into pieces and fell on the ground, They dropped like panthers They fly like spray They had hands like claws They had slipped away like visions They have as many principles as a fish has bones They have faces like flowers They hurried down like plovers that have heard the call [plovers = wading birds] They look like rose-buds filled with snow They seem like swarming flies, the crowd of little men They seemed like floating flowers They shine as sweet as simple doves They stand like solitary mountain forms They vanished like the shapes that float upon a summer's dream Thick as wind-blown leaves innumerable Thickly the flakes drive past, each like a childish ghost Thine eyes like two twin stars shining This life is like a bubble blown up in the air This love that dwells like moonlight in your face This thought is as death This tower rose in the sunset like a prayer Those ancestral themes past which so many generations have slept like sea-going winds over pastures Those death-like eyes, unconscious of the sun Those eyelids folded like a white rose-leaf Those eyes like bridal beacons shine Thou art to me but as a wave of the wild sea Thou as heaven art fair and young Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea Thou must wither like a rose Thou shalt be as free as mountain winds Thou wouldst weep tears bitter as blood Though bright as silver the meridian beams shine Though thou be black as night Thoughts vague as the fitful breeze Three-cornered notes fly about like butterflies Through the forest, like a fairy dream through some dark mind, the ferns in branching beauty stream Through the moonlit trees, like ghosts of sounds haunting the moonlight, stole the faint tinkle of a guitar Through the riot of his senses, like a silver blaze, ran the legend Thy beauty like a beast it bites Thy brown benignant eyes have sudden gleams of gladness and surprise, like woodland brooks that cross a sunlit spot Thy carven columns must have grown by magic, like a dream in stone Thy favors are but like the wind that kisses everything it meets Thy heart is light as a leaf of a tree Thy name burns like a gray and flickering candle flame Thy name will be as honey on men's lips Till death like sleep might steal on me Till he melted like a cloud in the silent summer heaven Time drops in decay, like a candle burnt out Time like a pulse shakes fierce To drag life on, which To forsake as the trees drop their leaves in autumn Toys with smooth trifles like a child at play Transitory as clouds without substance Transparent like a shining sun Tree and shrub altered their values Trees that spread their forked boughs like a stag's antlers Trembling like an aspen-leaf Truths which forever shine as fixed stars Turning easily and securely as on a perfect axle U Unbends like a loosened bow Unbreakable as iron Unconscious as an oak-tree of its growth Under the willow-tree glimmered her face Unheralded, like some tornado Unknown, like a seed in fallow ground, was the germ of a plan Unmoving as a tombstone Untameable as flies Unutterable things pressing on my soul Upcast like foam of the effacing tide Uplifting the soul as on dovelike wings Uplifting their stony peaks around us Urgent as the seas Uttering wild cries like a creature in pain V Vague as a dream Vague thoughts that stream shapelessly through her mind like long sad vapors through the twilight sky Vanish into thin air, like ghosts at the cockcrow Vanished like snow when comes a thaw Vanished like vapor before the sun Vibrations set quivering like harp strings struck by the hand of a master Vociferous praise following like a noisy wave W Walking somewhat unsteadily like a blind man feeling his way Waves glittered and danced on all sides like millions of diamonds We left her and retraced our steps like faithless hounds Weak and frail like the vapor of a vale Wearing their wounds like stars Weary wind, who wanderest like the world's rejected guest When a draft might puff them out like a guttering candle [guttering = To melt through the side of the hollow in a candle formed by a burning wick; to burn low and unsteadily; flicker] When arm in arm they both came swiftly running, When cards, invitations, and three-corn'd notes When she died, her breath whistled like the wind in a keyhole When the fever pierced me like a knife Where a lamp of deathless beauty shines like a beacon Where heroes die as leaves fall Where the intricate wheels of trade are grinding on, like a mill Where the source of the waters is fine as a thread Whilst the lagging hours of the day went by Whistled sharply in the air like a handful of vipers White as a ghost from darkness White as chalk White as dove or lily, or spirit of the light White as the driven snow White as the moon's white flame White as the sea-bird's wing White clouds like daisies White hands she moves like swimming swans White hands through her hair, White like flame White sails of sloops like specters Whose bodies are as strong as alabaster Whose hair was as gold raiment on a king Whose laugh moves like a bat through silent haunted woods Whose little eyes glow like the sparks of fire Whose music like a robe of living light reclothed each new-born age Windy speech which hits all around the mark like a drunken carpenter Winged like an arrow to its mark With a sting like a scorpion With all the complacency of a homeless cat With an angry broken roar, like billows on an unseen shore, their fury burst With hate darkling as the swift winter hail With music sweet as love With sounds like breakers With strength like steel With the whisper of leaves in one's ear With words like honey melting from the comb Wits as sharp as gimlets [gimlet = small hand tool for boring holes] Women with tongues like polar needles Words as fresh as spring verdure Words as soft as rain Words like the gossamer film of the summer Words sweet as honey from his lips distill'd Words were flashing like brilliant birds through the boughs overhead Wordsworth, thy music like a river rolls Worthless like the conjurer's gold Wrangle over details like a grasping pawnbroker Wrinkled and scored like a dried apple Writhing with an intensity that burnt like a steady flame Y Yielding like melted snow Yonder flimsy crescent, bent like an archer's bow above the snowy summit You are as gloomy to-night as an undertaker out of employment You are as hard as stone You gave me such chill embraces Your blood is red like wine Your charms lay like metals in a mine Your eyes are like fantastic moons that shiver in some stagnant lake Your eyes as blue as violets Your eyes they were green and gray like an April day Your frail fancies are swallowed up, Your hair was golden as tints of sunrise Your heart is as dry as a reed Your locks are like the raven Your love shall fall about me like sweet rain Your step's like the rain to summer vexed farmer Your thoughts are buzzing like a swarm of bees Your tongue is like a scarlet snake Your voice had a quaver in it just like the linnet [linnet = small finch] Youth like a summer morn |
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