Most of the text of this piece comes from the Greek myth about Philomela, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Philomela is the daughter of King Pandion of Athens, and her sister Procne is married to King Tereus of another kingdom. Procne wants Philomela to come visit her, so Tereus goes by boat to retrieve Philomela—however, when he arrives, he instead rapes her, cuts off her tongue, and hides her away. He tells Procne that Philomela is dead. Unable to speak, Philomela weaves a tapestry depicting what happened to her and sends it with an old woman to Procne. Procne rescues Philomela; later, Tereus is chasing them and, right before he kills them, all three characters are turned into birds by the gods. Philomela becomes a nightingale.
The section of text used in this piece is right after Tereus kidnaps Philomela, shortly before the rape and dismemberment. It is told in the third person. It is followed by the Christina Rossetti poem When I am dead, my dearest, which is written in first person, to give a window into Philomela’s perspective. This is especially important because in the real story, at this point, Philomela can no longer speak.