The Examples of Metaphor, Simile and Allusions

1. METAPHOR

Example :

• David is a worm for what he did to Shelia.
• The job interview was a rope ladder dropped from heaven.
• Her hair was a flowing golden river streaming down her shoulders.
• The computer in the classroom was an old dinosaur.
• Laughter is the music of the soul.

2. SIMILE

Example :

• as easy as taking candy from a baby --> very easy or simple  (Beating my little sister at chess is like taking candy from a baby)
•  as green as mold --> very green (Her teeth look as green as mold; she needs to brush them more often!)
• as clear as crystal -->very easy to understand/ easy to see (The water in the Mediterranean sea is as clear as crystal) 
• as black as coal --> very black (The pirate's evil eyes are as black as coal)
• as gentle as a lamb -->very calm and kind (If you are going to look after my cat Ichigo, you'll have to be as gentle as a lamb)

3. ALLUSION

Example :

• In the poem, The City of Walls by Edgar Allan Poe, the phrase "up Babylon - like walls" is considered to be an allusion as it refers to the doomed city of death.
• 'The earth was all before me', the fourteenth line of The Prelude written by William Wordsworth, alludes to the final phrases of Paradise Lost by John Milton: "The world was all before them". It is believed that Paradise Lost also refers to the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis.
• The Waste Land written by T. S. Eliot comprises of numerous allusions to the works of Shakespeare, Dante, Webster, St. Augustine etc.
• Allusions are also extended in order to show depth in certain tales such as Little Red Riding Hood. It is visible in Anthony Browne's The Tunnel (1989), where the character of Little Red Riding Hood is not mentioned but several pictorial illustrations allude to it. For instance, the lead character's red coat with the hood is seen hanging on a hook can be related to this well-known story.
• "Sue did not want to endure Eve's curse, so she opted for the epidural" - Here, the allusion stated is Eve's curse and it illustrates God giving Eve the curse of painful childbirth (Genesis).