expression which conveys thought may be classified as a Figure.

The principal figures as well as the most important and those oftenest
used are, _Simile, Metaphor, Personification, Allegory, Synechdoche,
Metonymy, Exclamation, Hyperbole, Apostrophe, Vision, Antithesis, Climax,
Epigram, Interrogation_ and _Irony_.

The first four are founded on _resemblance_, the second six on _contiguity_
and the third five, on _contrast_.

A _Simile_ (from the Latin _similis_, like), is the likening of one thing
to another, a statement of the resemblance of objects, acts, or relations;
as "In his awful anger he was _like_ the storm-driven waves dashing
against the rock." A simile makes the principal object plainer and
impresses it more forcibly on the mind. "His memory is like wax to
receive impressions and like marble to retain them." This brings out the
leading idea as to the man's memory in a very forceful manner. Contrast
it with the simple statement--"His memory is good." Sometimes _Simile_ is
prostituted to a low and degrading use; as "His face was like a danger
signal in a fog storm." "Her hair was like a furze-bush in bloom." "He
was to his lady love as a poodle to its mistress." Such burlesque is
never permissible. Mere _likeness_, it should be remembered, does not
constitute a simile. For instance there is no simile when one city is
compared to another. In order that there may be a rhetorical simile, the
objects compared must be of different classes. Avoid the old _trite_
similes such as comparing a hero to a lion. Such were played out long
ago. And don't hunt for farfetched similes. Don't say--"Her head was
glowing as the glorious god of day when he sets in a flambeau of splendor
behind the purple-tinted hills of the West." It is much better to do
without such a simile and simply say--"She had fiery red hair."