How did poetry affect John Stuart Mill’s ideas about happiness after his mental crisis?

Following his mental crisis in 1826, John Stuart Mill’s perspective on happiness underwent a significant transformation. Prior to this period, Mill had been raised under a strict utilitarian framework that prioritized intellectual rigor and public utility while often neglecting the emotional dimensions of life.

The crisis led Mill to abandon the rigid, mechanical doctrines of his upbringing. He emerged from this struggle with a more "catholic" or comprehensive view of human existence, which included a newfound "delight in poetry for its own sake". This appreciation for poetry helped him broaden his understanding of what is worthwhile in life, moving beyond a narrow focus on simple pleasure and the absence of pain.123

Ultimately, this shift allowed Mill to modify his utilitarianism to account for the "pleasures of the imagination" and the "gratification of the higher emotions". By distinguishing between higher and lower qualities of pleasure, he famously argued that it is "better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied," emphasizing that true happiness involves the cultivation of these higher human faculties.423