Annealing names a patient revision process in which a draft is allowed to cool before being reheated by fresh attention. Distance reveals which emotional pressures are durable and which belonged only to the moment of composition. The poet may then change sequence, diction, or point of view without abandoning the original impulse. In an elegy or autobiographical poem, annealing can preserve vulnerability while preventing immediacy from becoming confusion, sentimentality, or unexamined certainty.

To anneal a poem is to let it cool between stages of revision, then return with greater strength and clarity. Time away can expose weak images, accidental sentiment, or rhythms that sounded persuasive when freshly written. Annealing does not mean abandoning a draft; it is deliberate rest followed by attentive rereading. Related concepts include incubation, distance, revision, and workshop feedback.