Coherence and Structural Fidelity
Check the chosen rule and the experience it creates; both matter to revision.
Structural fidelity means checking the scientific feature selected for the poem: does the cycle return, the irreversible process retain direction, or the numerical sequence meet its counts? These are specific commitments rather than a demand to reproduce every aspect of a source.
Poetic coherence asks how the arrangement supports voice, imagery, rhythm, and meaning. A correct count may leave a phrase awkward; a graceful outline may hinder reading. Revision can change words, pauses, or the initial choice of structure.
Scientific Structure → Compositional Pattern → Poetic Transformation → Poetic Form. This sequence describes one route through composition. Revision can move backward through it. The finished form needs a clear pattern and a reason for that pattern to matter.
Web reading edition adapted from Part I, section 4.5, of the revised English manuscript of Schrödinger’s Cat.