Of course this is all quite naive and doesn't explain the strange mental state popularly known as inspiration, but at least there's something to look at and listen to. But poets are the worst. Their work is hopelessly un-photogenic. Someone sits at a table or lies on a sofa while staring motionless at a wall or ceiling. I've mentioned inspiration.
Contemporary poets answer evasively when asked what it is, and if it actually exists.
It's not that they've never known the blessing of this inner impulse. It's just not easy to explain something to someone else that you don't understand yourself. When I'm asked about this on occasion, I hedge the question too. There is, has been, and will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It's made up of all those who've consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination.