Moses maimonides in his Guide to the Perplexed analyzes the ecstatic state of prophecy and his analysis may be applied to any high form of poetic inspiration.
"The Literature of Ecstasy"
Albert Mordell
Prophecy was, according to maimonides, an emanation sent forth to man's rational faculty and then to his imaginative faculty; it consisted in the most perfect development of the imaginative faculty; the logical and imaginative faculties had to be balanced in the prophet; he overflowed with the frenzy of ecstasy to help his fellow-men and could not rest even at risk of personal suffering; he had courage and intuition; he reserved his message in a dream or a vision.
"The Literature of Ecstasy"
Albert Mordell
He began to study the Bible, and philosophical works in Hebrew, like those of maimonides; his desire for knowledge being fostered under Michael Perl of Tarnopol, the first Jewish reformer in Galicia.
"Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ"
Rev. A. Bernstein, B.D.