Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.
Tenderly
Tenderly, as round the sleeping infant’s feet,
We softly fold the cradle-sheet.
—William Cullen Bryant
Tenderly as lovers may
Who know the breaking dawn will be their wedding day.
—Mary Ainge De Vere
Tenderly as Robin Redbreast covered the dead babes with forest leaves.
—Nathaniel Hawthorne
Tenderly, as a mother might kiss a hot, impulsive child trying to still a restless spirit within.
—Robert Herrick (American)
Tenderly … like the song of the robin in the tree.
—William Dean Howells
Tenderly, like one that leads the blind.
—William. C. Roscoe
Tenderly be led by the nose,
As asses are.
—William Shakespeare
Tenderly as a bee that sips,
Your kisses settle on my lips.
—Arthur Symons