The speaker looks into a kaleidoscope, first noticing a pale blue, then a spread of colours: an exciting saffron red, greens that feel sensual, brown like dry land, and the white of snowy hills. When the speaker shakes it, the view breaks into sparkling patterns of bangle pieces, tinted glass and beads. These shifting designs become a picture of love, both the kind the speaker has known and the kind they haven't.
The mood moves from wonder to something more tender and uneasy. Each new pattern is unique, but also "disturbing" and "fragile." In the closing lines the speaker stands very still, trying not to shake the kaleidoscope, and tries to forget that all this beauty is made of broken glass. The poem suggests that love, like the toy, is lovely and ever-changing, yet built from fragments, and that its delicacy is part of what makes it moving.