Ah, OK. Thanks Carl. I'd read "lives", as the plural of "life" -- not "lives" as verb.
So much for the reincarnation reading! That's a shame, I thought the mythic reading added something unexpected.
It still reads a comma-spliced to me, though. I still see two independent clauses (and it still seems ambiguous as to which clause belongs to what) I reckon it's this:
For in her lives a panoply of whispers, charms, and smiles more fierce than feminine. As whetted steel in wanton war, she wields her beauty’s hilt.
This seems less likely:
For in her lives a panoply of whispers, charms, and smiles more fierce than feminine, as whetted steel in wanton war. She wields her beauty’s hilt.
but given the comma, it's how I start reading it.
A semi-colon or dash would also work to replace the comma, of course.
-Matt
|