Frank J. Wilstach, comp. A Dictionary of Similes. 1916.

Softly

Tread softly,—softly, like the foot
Of winter, shod with fleecy snow.
—Barry Cornwall

Softly as if over a pavement of down.
—Alphonse Daudet

Walked as softly as the ghost in Hamlet.
—Charles Dickens

Softly as moonlight steals upon the skies.
—Julia C. R. Dorr

Softly … as music that floats through a dream.
—Minnie Gilmore

Softly as a burglar goes.
—O. Henry

Stepping softly like a scout.
—O. Henry

More softly than the east could blow
Arion’s magic to the Atlantic isles.
—John Keats

Softly among the pines as a young witch gathering simples.
—Richard Le Gallienne

Softly as full-blown flower
Unfolds its heart to welcome in the dawn.
—Henry Van Dyke

Softly … like low aërial music when some angel hovers near.
—Lady Wilde