The speaker tries to hold onto a moment of warmth, imagined as sunlight pooled in their hands like something sweet and precious. But a clock striking twelve breaks the spell, and they are swept forward against their will. What follows is a longing to keep their heart in that bright place, mixed with regret and grief that they can only pack away as a keepsake, a glass slipper left behind.
The musical image of an octave rising from minor to major is interesting. A shift from sad to happy might sound like good news, but here it feels forced, since the speaker has no time to breathe or release what they have been holding in. They are dragged along "by the strings of change," unsure they belong in the place they are heading.
The mood is wistful and anxious, a mix of tenderness for the past and unease about the future.