I've been reading poetry in which the poet is grappling with their human experience and was clearly all immersed in thinking about this at the time. This was likely the sole thing that occupied their mind.
Is there a good way of expressing the idea of one's mind being consistently captivated/immersed/engulfed by some idea/thought.
Example usage:
Jake's pursuit of deciphering the code completely ________ him.
consume (kənˈsjuːm)
vb
Consider obsessed.
to dominate or preoccupy the thoughts, feelings, or desires of (a person); beset, trouble, or haunt persistently or abnormally.
to think about something unceasingly or persistently; dwell obsessively upon something.
Example: In Hawthorne's story "The Birthmark", we see a scientist obsessed with the desire to remedy nature's imperfections, with predictably disastrous results.
com·mit·ted
kəˈmidəd/
adjective
adjective: committed
feeling dedication and loyalty to a cause, activity, or job; wholeheartedly dedicated.
"a committed reformer"
Google search result
I like the use of the word "engulfed" here.
engulf - verb
past tense: engulfed; past participle: engulfed
(of a natural force) sweep over (something) so as to surround or cover it completely. "the cafe was engulfed in flames" synonyms: inundate, flood, deluge, immerse, swamp, wash out, swallow up, submerge; More
powerfully affect (someone); overwhelm. "a feeling of anguish so great that it threatened to engulf him" synonyms: inundate, flood, deluge, immerse, swamp, wash out, swallow up, submerge; More
You could say that the poet was preoccupied with these thoughts:
to be thought about or worried about by (someone) very often or constantly
Jake's pursuit of deciphering the code completely preoccupied him.
[Merriam-Webster]
