Lines 45 to 48 of this poem employs examples of similes. A simile is a figure of speech in which two things are compared directly through the use of a word such as "like" or "as." This is the case in this example, where the author compares several thing with the use of the word "like":
<em>Though </em><em>like</em><em> waves breaking it may be,</em>
<em>Or </em><em>like</em><em> a changed familiar tree,</em>
<em>Or </em><em>like</em><em> a stairway to the sea</em>