A course of modern english lexicology

Simile
She sings like a nightingale.
Our agricultural reform is as slow as a snail.
Comparison
She sings like a professional soloist.
The changes in agriculture are as slow as they were last year.
Trite simile
as mad as a March hare; as blind as a bat; to fit like a glove;
to smoke like a chimney

2. METAPHOR

Metaphor is also based on analogy between two objects, but it has no formal connective. It is expressive renaming on the basis of similarity of two objects, the real object, and the one whose name is actually used.

Metaphor A film star. Her eyes were two gun-barrels. He is not a man, he is just a machine.

We must distinguish between poetic and trite metaphors. Poetic metaphor is based on some new vivid and striking analogy between two things. It’s always individual. Trite metaphors have lost their freshness. They are frequently reproduced in everyday speech.

Trite metaphor the path winds; time flies; to burn with desire

Metaphors can be simple, when expressed by a word or phrase, or sustained, when a broader context is required to understand it.

Sustained metaphor The average New Yorker is caught in a machine. He whirls along, he is dizzy, he is helpless. If he resists, the machine will crush him to pieces. (W. Frank)

3. PERSONIFICATION

Personification is a variety of metaphor, attributing human properties to lifeless objects, mostly to abstract notions such as thoughts, intentions, emotions, seasons of the year, or animals.
Personification is often represented grammatically by the choice of masculine or feminine pronouns for the names of inanimate objects, or by capitalization of these words.

Personification The sun shone brightly down on me as if she was shining for me alone.

Personifications are most often used in poetry.