An affinity for pain.

Throughout "The Raven," the narrator seems to be in a constant need to feel misery for himself. He has lost his love, "Lenore," and seems to be in a state of mourning for her. It is a bleak night in December, and he is sitting in his chamber alone trying to console himself by reading. When he rises and opens the door in response to a tapping he whispers, "Lenore," in hopes that his love has returned. Even though he knows she is gone, he cannot let go of her and, in a way, seems to ravish himself in his lonely pain.
In addition to opening of the door, he also, "flung the shutter," to seek out a tapping on the window. Immediately a Raven, which is considered a dark omen, flies in and ironically lands on a bust of Athena who is the Greek goddess of wisdom. This here may indicate that what the bird has to say is indeed veritable. Contrary to common instinct, the narrator is actually enchanted by the bird rather than being put off. Perhaps his "smile" is a smile made despite his instinct of knowing that the bird will not be the bearer of auspicious conditions--a smile of hopeless naivety. The bird's only uttered word is "nevermore," yet the narrator still asks questions such as, "is there balm in Gilead?" Why would the narrator ask such a question if he knew the response would be "nevermore"? He also goes on to ask whether he will ever be able to forget Lenore which of course the raven replies to with, "nevermore."
It seems as if pain is something the narrator at this time indirectly desires in his life. It is interesting to see how the bird initially intrigues him, but ultimately brings fear and hopelessness into his life. Perhaps the readers are suppose to relate the raven to ominous things that they let fly into their lives all the while knowing that they will only bring sorrow and heartache. The narrator certainly knew what kind of responses he was to hear from the Raven, and yet he continued to seek answers that he knew would bring him to new depths of pain. He knew that his, "soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor shall be lifted--nevermore!"