Knives by Jane Yolen

"Glass is not glass
in the language of love:
it implies sight, it suggests depth,
it mirrors and makes real,
it is sought and is seen.
What is made of glass reflects the gazer.
A queen must be made of glass."

Harry Clarke

 

-Excerpt from Jane Yolen's poem "Knives", discussing some of the symbolism of the glass slipper. Although the bottom of the page says it was inspired by Little Mermaid, which was actually my first thought as well, since every step the mermaid took in human form felt painful, as if she was stepping on knives-but I think it's clearly more influenced by Cinderella, in particular the stepsisters' cutting off parts of their feet to fit into the slipper in the Grimm version.

My favorite line is, "where there is one shoe, there must be a match"