The “flowering” stage of the writing process is a pleasure. I love making historical simile searches on Google. Such a search can provide a sweet detail for a historical scene, that telling detail that reminds the reader that we’re in another world.
1) Go to Google and type the lead-in to the simile in quotes. For example, “as sweet as a”.
2) Under More select “books.”
3) Click Search tools, and select the time period you want. I select “custom” and type in between 1600 and 1800.
Here are the treasures that resulted, images that tell you quite a bit about daily life hundreds of years ago.
- as sweet as a Parsnip
- as sweet as a Nut
- as sweet as a Cow (!)
- as sweet as a Jordan almond
- as sweet as a Lark
- as sweet as a Pistack Nut
- (smelled) as sweet as a nosegay
- (smelled) as sweet as a per- fum’d Spanish Glove
- as sweet as a wild Fig
- as sweet as a thin syrup
- Her Breath is as sweet as a young Fawn’s
- Her Breath is as sweet as a Grecian Captain. (?)
And, of course, a rose.
Here are some more:
- as slender as a Crow’s- quill
- as hungry as a Church-mouse
- as hungry as a hawk
- as tall as a May-pole
- as tall as a wild-Goat
- as small as a cobweb
- as big as a Goose’s egg
I find these simply delightful.
Some recent posts to Baroque Explorations, my research blog:
Happy 376th birthday, Louis XIV!
Honey, figs and red dove feet: cosmetic secrets of the Middle Ages
It all goes to show how much life, and therefore language, both change!
“As sweet as a wild fig” is spot on, but who knows what wild fig is, these days? If there is an object in existence, a word will be found. If that object disappears, the old word will just sound quaint to our ears.
That’s so true, hels. Imagine a world where most everyone knew how tall a wild goat was, for that matter.
What I love about historic similes is that they show how very different the world was in a very visceral way. It’s a little sad, to tell you the truth. I’ll love to taste a wild fig or see a big goose egg.