..."balm of Gilead" also echoes a passage from "The Raven": "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!— Whether Tempter sent,...this desert land enchanted— On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore— Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!"...

...knows that the raven is a prophet but not whether it is "bird or devil": "Prophet!" said I, "thing of evil! Prophet still, if bird or devil! — Whether...tossed thee here ashore, Desolate yet all undaunted . . . 21 In the end, Whitman is prepared to accept that the bird is demon—that is, daimon—an& brother...