Bound came about as a way to express that something that was once intensely desired, starting out fairly beautiful and rather dreamy, could eventually turn out to be quite harmful and one might ultimately struggle to free oneself of it.

The suitor does not start off actively intending to harm the object of his affections; his intentions in gifting the scarf seem earnest, motivated by love and natural courtship rituals. Yet we see that the beloved pledges, of her own volition, to wear it to the end, wanting to avoid his sleeping wrath. Why mention an end? Did she perhaps know that there would be an end? What sort of wrath was she hoping to avoid?

When compared to works of a similar tradition, such as Browning’s Porphyria's Lover (which, while not serving as an influence, is similar enough to be an interesting point of comparison), where the suitor actively acts upon the passively-rendered beloved with their own being, here, the suitor unwittingly ends up transmuting his obsessive nature and energy into an inanimate object, serving as a proxy for his own hands. Unlike in Porphyria’s Lover, both the suitor and the beloved are active participants in Bound: he professes love, she accepts and offers her own vow. By the end, the beauty (florets) that graced her neck, serving as proof of his devotion and adoration, now graces her grave, still remaining a mark of his devotion and adoration, yet this time being a result of violence.

The form also serves a purpose: although this courtship on the outside appears to be beautiful, formal and traditional, on the inside, something disturbing is brewing. A sonnet is a standard poetic structure. Gifting your beloved something is a standard courtship ritual. Yet, inside the sonnet, and the courtship, and as each progresses, one sees that all is not well. The wrath at the beginning, that she tries to avoid with her vow, and the scarf, acting as the suitor's proxy, that winds up tighter and tighter around her neck, ultimately causing her end, create a stark contrast to the form (and the external appearance of the courtship).