Stylistic semasiology

Figures of Identity
This group of figures simile and synonymic repetition are re­ferred.
Simile. It is an explicit statement concerning the similarity, the affinity of two different notions. The purpose of this confrontation of the names of two different objects is to characterize vividly one of the two. One of the two co-occurring denominations is the name of the object really spoken about; the other denomination is that of an object not connected with the first in objective reality but having certain features in common with the first object. E. g.:
«That fellow (first object) is LIKE an old fox (second object)».
The existence of common features is always explicitly ex­pressed in a simile, mostly by means of the words «as», «like» and others.
There are two type of simile. In one of them the common fea­ture of the two objects is mentioned: «Не is as beautiful as a weathercock».
In the second type the common feature is not mentioned; the hearer is supposed to guess what features the two objects have in common:
«My heart is like a singing bird».
Care should be taken not to confuse the simile and any sort of elementary logical comparison. A simile presupposes confrontation of two objects belonging to radically different semantic spheres; a comparison deals with two objects of the same semantic sphere:
«She can sing like a professional actress» (logical comparison);
«She sings like a nightingale» (simile).
First, let us ascertain the difference between a simile and a comparison. We use the word "simile" to single out the emotional aspect and to point out mat h is a stylistic comparison. It compares objects belonging to two different classes of things only one feature of the two corresponding object is compared thus being foregrounded. Simile always has a structural element, a connective: as, like, seem, as if.
e.g. I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high over vales and hills •
(W. Wordsworth);
Rise like lions after slumber (P.B.Shelly).
Why are simile and metaphor in different groups of SDs? Their linguistic nature is different and they are structurally heterogeneous: in metaphor two objects merge into one, in simile — the two themes are set apart, the connective keeps the two object separately.
There are similes which gradually grow into metaphors:
e .g. My verses flow like streams
in streams.
There are sustained (developed) similes:
e.g. He was like a branch that severed itself from the parental tree. Trite and genuine similes: e.g. eyes like tennis balls, like forget-me-nots. Which of the given examples is a case of genuine simile? Hackneyed similes: busy as a bee, blind as bat, to swim like a duck, thirsty as a camel.