Out Of The Blue: Poetry and the brain

Poetry promotes deeper thought … poetry promotes brain activity …

In relation to ‘the classics’ this was put to the test at Liverpool University …from an Internet article -

PUT down those self-help books, ditch the trashy novels and read the greatest writers in the English language if you need a lift. The works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth are ''rocket-boosters'' to the brain and better therapy than self-improvement guides, researchers have discovered.

Academics at Liverpool University found that reading the works of the Bard and other classical writers had a beneficial effect on the mind, by catching the reader's attention and triggering moments of self-reflection.

Using scanners, they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces by Shakespeare, Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot and others. They then ''translated'' the texts into more ''straightforward'', modern language and again monitored the readers' brains as they read the words. Scans showed that the more ''challenging'' prose and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain.

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The poetry of E. E. Cummings is always a challenge here is a link to one of his poems. ... If everything happens that can't be done ... the title itself needing thought.