A draft may contain a beautiful image, a compelling voice, or a strong ending while still leaning away from its deepest purpose. Trueing involves checking proportion, sequence, tone, and emphasis until the poem’s formal behavior matches its subject. The poet may shorten an overdeveloped section, move a revelation earlier, or alter a title that misdirects the reading. Trueing does not mean making a poem predictable; it means ensuring that its surprises arise from an accurately balanced structure.

Trueing is a structural revision that brings a poem’s parts into alignment with its central intention. A poet may true a draft by adjusting an overlong section, correcting an unsupported turn, balancing stanza weights, or changing an ending that points elsewhere. The process resembles checking whether a wheel runs evenly, so it concerns proportion and direction more than surface correctness. Related concepts include coherence, architecture, and balance.