<span><span>"he heard the slap of the window curtains
against the wall and the sound of paper fluttering from his desk,
and he had to push to close the door." quoted from the book</span></span>
The poem is about personally inflicted pain due to loss of love (like a breakup) "is there a balm in Gilead?" is actually a Bible reference, Gilead is a part of modern day Jordan, known for it's healing ointment. The narrator is really asking if there is any healing. The narrator continually asks dark questions of the raven fully knowing that the answer is always, "nevermore" therefore inflicting a sort of mental torture. Some people cut themselves, this guy asks birds what they think.
(not putting down self harmers, I'm one myself)
Winston said that the woman sang very tunefully and it made it so the foul (horrible) lyrics (words) were peaceful to listen to.
