sun

See Also: MOON, SKY, SUNSET

1. The afternoon sunlight was like gold embroidery on the grass —Paul Horgan
2. Autumn sunlight poured out over the rock [of Quebec] like a heavy southern wine —Willa Cather
3. Bars of sunlight crossed the backyard like the bars of a bright strange cell —Carson McCullers
4. Bits of sunlight bright as butterflies —Eudora Welty
5. The citronade of the pale morning sun shimmered like a multitude of violins —Angela Carter
6. The daylight-saving sunshine lay like custard on the oaks and mistletoe —Wallace Stegner
7. The fast-setting sun lighted the tops of the trees like flames of candles —Z. Vance Wilson
8. The heat from the scorching [California] sun hit them like a knock-out punch —Jilly Cooper
9. The high sun fell like balm on her body —Mary Hedin
10. The huge sun light flamed like a monstrous dahlia with petals of yellow fire —Oscar Wilde
11. It [sunlight] licks thick as a tongue at my skin —Sharon Sheehe Stark
12. The last of the sun [at dusk] like a great splash of blood on the sky —George Garrett
13. The muffled sunlight gleamed like gold tissue through grey gauze —Edith Wharton
14. The new morning sun shone like a pink rose in the heavens —Kenneth Koch
15. A pale sun appeared over the clouds like an invalid sitting up in bed —John Mortimer
16. A red sun as flat and still against the sky as moonlight on pond water —Charles Johnson
17. The red sun was pasted on the sky like a wafer —Anon
18. The rising sun is like a ball of blood —Robert W. Service
19. A scarlet sun, round and brilliant as a blooded egg yolk —Cynthia Ozick
20. A sharp-as-needle sun sat high over Virginia … like a heathen god, sure of itself —Thomas Keneally
21. The sinking sun hung like a red balloon over the Hudson River—Belva Plain
22. The strong sun (of late April) pours down as though a gigantic golden basin full of light and wind were being emptied on us —Erich Maria Remarque
23. The sun advanced on the city and lit the topmost spines of the hill, painting the olive drab slopes in crazy new colors, like the drawing of a spangled veil —William Brammer
24. Sun … as light and dry as old sherry —Raymond Chandler

    See Also: DRYNESS, LIGHTNESS

25. The sun, as red as a furnace on the edge of the horizon —Émile Zola
26. The sun blazed like a flaming bronze mirror —Bernard Malamud
27. The sun breaks [over the land] like a cracked egg —T. Coraghessan Boyle
28. The sun breaks through the cloud like revelation —Delmore Schwartz
29. The sun burned feebly through the mist like a circle cut from Christmas paper —MacDonald Harris
30. The sun dazzled off the asphalt in fragments like breaking glass —George Garrett
31. The sun drew strength from them like a giant sponge —Caryl Phillips
32. The sun … drops on our heads like a stone —Marge Piercy
33. The sun, dull, like the face of an old man —Maxim Gorky

    See Also: DULLNESS

34. The sun fades like the spreading of a peacock’s tail —John Ashbery
35. The sun fell thick as a blanket —Lee Smith
36. The sun flared in the sky, fat and red as a tangerine —T. Coraghessan Boyle

    A variation by Marge Piercy: “The sun hangs like a tangerine.”

37. The sun flashed like a torrent of warm white wine —Du Bose Heyward
38. The sun floats up above the horizon, like a shimmering white blimp —Margaret Atwood
39. The sun hangs overhead like a lantern —T. Coraghessan Boyle
40. The sun hits him like a slap in the face —T. Coraghessan Boyle
41. The sun … shone like a polished brass knob —Helen Hudson
42. The sun hung in the cloudless sky like an unblinking yellow eye —Harvey Swados
43. (It was a misty autumn morning,) the sun just struggling through like a great chrysanthemum —Pamela Hansford Johnson
44. The sun lay like a friendly arm across her shoulder —Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
45. The sun … lay on the horizon like a dissolving orange suffused with blood —John Hawkes
46. The sunlight dripped over the house like golden paint over an art jar —F. Scott Fitzgerald
47. Sunlight dropped into it (the dark foliage) like a drizzle of gold —Isak Dinesen
48. Sunlight fell like a shower of gold through the leaves of the chestnut trees —Silvia Tennenbaum
49. The sunlight hit her like a boxing glove —Jilly Cooper
50. The sunlight … plunged like tiny knives into my already bleary eyes —James Crumley
51. Sunlight splashed through the trees, the beams hazy like shafts of light filtered through stained glass —Robert J. Serling
52. Sunlight that was like a bright driving summer rain —Paule Marshall
53. Sun (is sitting atop the trees) like a big round cheddar —T. Coraghessan Boyle
54. The sun looks, through the mist, like a plum on the tree of heaven, or a bruise on the slope of your belly —William H. Gass
55. The sun lulled in the sky like a mule —Larry McMurtry
56. The sun overhead beat the surface of the pool like a drum —James B. Hall
57. The sun peeping above the trees, looked like a giant golf ball —P. G. Wodehouse

    Wodehouse was known for his golf stories so this is a particularly apt comparison for him.

    See Also: GOLF

58. The sun … poised like a ball of fire on the very edge of the mountains —Henry Van Dyke
59. The sun popped over the edge of the prairie like a broad smiling face —Willa Cather
60. The sun poured down like fire —Isaac Bashevis Singer
61. Sun … reflected back to me like a shiny bedspread whose design is hundreds of wind-driven roller coasters —Richard Brautigan
62. The sun rested like a warm palm on the back of her neck —Francis King
63. The sun rolled over the horizon like the red rim of a wagon wheel —Rita Mae Brown
64. The sun … rose swiftly and flashed like a torch with dazzling rays —Felix Salten
65. The sunshine burned the pasture like fire —Rudyard Kipling
66. The sunshine [of January day] cut like icicles —Edith Wharton
67. The sunshine made spots before your eyes … as though a thousand weddings were to be held that day —Boris Pasternak
68. Sunshine spread like butter over the fields —Lael Tucker Wertenbaker
69. Sunshine that stretched like cloth of gold all up and down Fifth Avenue —Helen Hudson
70. The sun shone as if there were no death —Saul Bellow
71. The sun shone like a million dollars —Larry McMurtry
72. The sun shone like Mr. Happy Face himself —Tom Robbins
73. The sun shone with such violence that in an illumination like a long-prolonged glare of lightning the heavens looked black and white —Eudora Welty
74. The sun shot upward and began to spin like a red cup on the point of a spear —Isaac Babel
75. Sun sizzling like a skillet in the sky —Helen Hudson
76. Sun slanting like a blade —Bin Ramke
77. The sun’s rays like sheaves of wheat are gold and dry —Dame Edith Sitwell
78. The sun stood still like a great shining altar —Hans Christian Andersen
79. The sun swerves silently like a cyclist round the bend —Herbert Read
80. The sun throbbed like a fever —William Plomer
81. Sun … huge as a mountain of diamonds —Dame Edith Sitwell
82. The sun up in the towering sky turns like a spinning ball —Edwin Muir
83. The sun was high enough to sit on the roofs of buildings like a great open fire warming everything —Mark Helprin
84. The sun was like a burning-glass —William Plomer

    This comparison from a poem entitled In the Snake Park refers to a lens used to focus the sun’s rays to start a fire.

85. The sun was like a good cup of tea, strong and hot —Mike Fredman
86. The sun was like a hot iron on their backs —Paul Horgan
87. The sun was like a whip —T. Coraghessan Boyle
88. The sun was pouring in like maple syrup into a green bowl —Carlos Baker
89. The sun was shining like a congratulation —Margaret Millar
90. The sun was streaking the sky with strips of red and white, like a slab of bacon —Jean Thompson
91. [Sun] swung … like a faded shabby orange —Hugh Walpole
92. (While they embraced,) the sun vanished as if it had been switched off —W. P. Kinsella
93. The white sun twinking like the dawn under a speckled cloud —Percy Bysshe Shelley
94. The yellow sun was ugly, like a raw egg on a plate —Elizabeth Bishop