This poem seems like an unconventional sonnet, with passion or love being the object of the poet's frustration. Traditional sonnets glorify love, but this sonnet talks about the follies of succumbing to passion.
There is a sense of discontentment that pervades the poem and it is clear from the very title, which means "Alas!" in french, that the poet is going to be discontent in the poem. The poem talks about the binary between morality and passions. There is a sense of moralism that emanates from this poem. The poet shows a sense of "moral awareness and even remorse".
The poet feels that by succumbing to passion, he has given up his moral authority and lost his "soul's inheritance". He feels that there is a sense of remorse in him, because he has squandered his moral credibility by indulging in materialistic pleasures. He thinks that his life is just a scroll that has been scrawled over in some "boyish holiday". In other words, he feels that his life has no value in a greater sense, and he has forgotten the larger meaning of life.
The poem ends with the poet saying that for just a taste of passions, he lost his hold on any moral authority.
