Simile
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A simile (/ˈsɪməli/) is a figure of speech that directly compares two things.[1][2] Although similes and metaphors are similar, similes explicitly use connecting words (such as like, as, so, than, or various verbs such as resemble),[1] though these specific words are not always necessary.[3] While similes are mainly used in forms of poetry that compare the inanimate and the living, there are also terms in which similes and personifications are used for humorous purposes and comparison.
Uses
In literature
- "O My Luve's like a red, red rose." "A Red, Red Rose," by Robert Burns.[1][4]
- John Milton, Paradise Lost, a Homeric simile:[5]
As when a prowling Wolf,
Whom hunger drives to seek new haunt for prey,
Watching where Shepherds pen thir Flocks at eve
In hurdl'd Cotes amid the field secure,
Leaps o'er the fence with ease into the Fold:
. . . . . . .
So clomb this first grand Thief into God's Fold[6]
In comedy
Similes are used extensively in British comedy, notably in the slapstick era of the 1960s and 1970s. In comedy, the simile is often used in negative style: "he was as daft as a brush." They are also used in comedic context where a sensitive subject is broached, and the comedian will test the audience with response to a subtle implicit simile before going deeper.[7]
See also
- Alliteration
- Analogy
- Description
- Homeric simile
- Hyperbole
- Hypocatastasis
- Metaphor
- Metonymy
- Personification
References
- ^ a b c Murfin, Ross; Ray, Supryia M. (2003). The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms (2nd ed.). Bedford/St. Martins. pp. 447–448. ISBN 978-0312259105.
- ^ "Simile". Literary Terms. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ Harris, Robert A. (5 January 2010). "A Handbook of Rhetorical Devices". Virtual Salt. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ Burns, Robert. "A Red Red Rose". Glen Collection of Printed Music, Vol. 5. National Library of Scotland. p. 415. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
- ^ Murfin, Ross; Ray, Supryia M. (2003). The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms (2nd ed.). Bedford/St. Martins. p. 135. ISBN 978-0312259105.
- ^ Milton, John (1852). Henry John Todd (ed.). The Poetical Works of John Milton: With Notes of Various Authors; and with Some Account of the Life and Writings of Milton, Derived Principally from Original Documents in Her Majesty's State-paper Office. Rivingtons, Longman and Company. p. 62.
- ^ "What Is A Simile?". Funny Similes!. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
External links
- "On Substantiation Through Transitive Relations" is an Arabic manuscript from 1805 by Sayf al-Din al-Amidi which discusses similes