" Between land and sea the mist was like a veil
This is a simile. Such links as "like" or "as" are typical of the simile: one object is like another object.
If you go on to say the mist was like the veil of a bride, this is a sustained simile with elements of mild poetry; but if you say, the mist was like the veil of a fat bride whose father was even fatter and wore a wig, this is a rambling simile, marred by an illogical continuation, of the kind Homer used for purposes of epic narration and Gogol used for grotesque dream-effects. "

― Vladimir Nabokov , Lectures on Russian Literature