Simile: 

A simile is an unequivocal comparison between two different things by using ‘like’ ‘as’ ‘so’ ‘such’ ‘such as’ etc. The word simile comes from the Latin word ‘similes’ which means ‘like’ or ‘likeness’ It clearly shows the similarity existing between two different things using the words like, so, as, as-so, such, similarly, as if etc. In our daily activities or speeches we can find the literary term. For example: He is as brave as a lion.

The features of simile:

a) The comparison is made between two different objects.

b) The similarity between two things compared is a must.

c) The words like, so, as, as-so, such, similarly, as if etc. must be used.

Functions of simile:

a) When we use simile in our writing, it makes the topic easier for the readers and so they can understand it easily.

b) The use of simile pleases the readers by addressing to their heart.

c) Simile attracts the attention of the readers and it appeals the senses of readers or listeners directly. It also creates the imagination of the readers and the learners.

d) Simile helps readers to relate the feelings of a writer or a poet to their personal experience.  

Some examples of simile:

a) You are as slow as a hare.

b) My friend is as brave as a lion.

c) His color is as red as a rose.

d) She looks as beautiful as a rose.

e) The boy is as clever as a fox.

Some  Examples of simile in English Literature:

a) Thy soul was like a star that dwelt apart. (London, 1802 by William Wordsworth)

b) The holy time is quite as a nun. (It is a Beauteous Evening, Calm and Free by William Wordsworth)

c) When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table. (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock byS. Eliot)

d) I wandered lonely as a cloud. (Daffodils by William Wordsworth)

e) Fear at my heart, as at a cup (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner byT. Coleridge)

f) To follow knowledge like a sinking star (Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson)

g) Life, like a dome of many-coloured glass (Adonais “Life, Like A Dome Of Many-colored Glass, Stains The White Radiance Of Eternity” by Percy Bysshe Shelly)

h) The child shows the man, as morning shows the day. (Paradise Regained by John Milton)

i) When the evening is spread out against the sky like a patient etherized upon a table. (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock Launch Audio in a New Window by T. S. ELIOT)

j) O my Luve’s like a red, red rose

That’s newly sprung in June;

O my Luve’s like the melodie

That’s sweetly played in tune (A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns)