Part one of term paper
An epic simile, also known as a Homeric simile, is defined as a simile where A is compared to B, then B is described in such detail that it becomes a digression. John Milton employed this device several times throughout Paradise Lost. The first two books of Paradise Lost are justly celebrated; they also contain almost all the epic conventi ...

Part two of term paper
... unsupported flower. The epic simile, however, was traditionally a diversion, a little world unto itself, which did not necessitate a change in the quality of the verse. The language within a long simile was able to remain unfigurative; in fact, the effect of closely-wrought metaphor could possibly be confusing in such a context. Milton decided to abandon the radically figurative style of his early poems -- notably, Lycidas and certain passages of Comus -- which critics like to call Shakespearean ...