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Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases

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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 which resembles the hiss of a serpent [sibilant = producing a hissing sound] 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 that made his words stand out like the raised type for the blind 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, like a wheat-field under a summer breeze 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, like those by sculptor graved for niches in a temple 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 [tremulous = timid or fearful] 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 like a friend in a crowd of strange faces 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] [vituperation = 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 when the wind wearily sighs in the grass His voice rose like a stream of rich distilled perfumes His voice was like the clap of thunder which interrupts the warbling birds among the leaves His whole soul wavered and shook like a wind-swept leaf His words gave a curious satisfaction, as when a coin, tested, rings true gold 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 <h4 id="id09593" style="margin-top: 2em">I</h4> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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