Remembering this from my childhood, I went back to the old book and found it. The comparsions are nowhere near as clever as those above, but they are cleverly combined.

As wet as a fish--as dry as a bone;
As live as a bird--as dead as a stone;
As plump as a partridge--as poor as a rat;
As strong as a horse--as weak as a cat;
As hard as a flint--as soft as a mole;
As white as a lily--as black as a coal;
As heavy as lead--as light as a feather;
As steady as time--uncertain as weather;
As hot as an oven--as cold as a frog;
As gay as a lark--as sick as a dog;
As savage as tigers--as mild as a dove;
As stiff as a poker--as limp as a glove;
As blind as a bat--as deaf as a post;
As cool as a cucumber--as warm as toast;
As flat as a flounder--as round as a ball;
As blunt as a hammer--as sharp as an awl;
As brittle as glass--as tough as gristle;
As neat as a pin--as clean as a whistle;
As red as a rose--as square as a box;
As bold as a thief--as sly as a fox.


I'm still scratching my head over "as keen as a whistle", noted above. What's keen about a whistle?