Style and Formatting Guide for Citing a Work of Poetry

The following information is an adapted version of the style and formatting guidelines found in the MLA

Handbook, 8th ed. (2016), published by the Modern Language Association. This sheet is to serve as a ready-

reference; more in-depth descriptions can be found in the handbook.

• Enclose a short poem’s title in double quotations; do not underline it or place it

in italics (1.3.3).

⇒

“Whoso List to Hunt”

• Italicize the titles of book-length poems; do not enclose book-length poems in

double quotation marks (1.3.3).

⇒

The Iliad

When Quoting Three or Fewer Lines of Poetry (1.3.3):

•

Use double quotation marks around your quotation. Capitalize whatever is capitalized in the original poem.

•

Include the author’s name, the title(s) of the poem(s), and the line number(s) in the text (for better source

integration) or within a parenthetical citation.

•

If the passage you are quoting ends with a period, you may omit it because the period ending your sentence

will serve in its place. However, if the passage you are quoting ends with a question mark, an exclamation

point, or a dash, leave that punctuation mark, and then later use a period to end your sentence. If the pas-

sage you are quoting ends with a colon, semicolon, or comma, delete that punctuation mark, add an ellip-

ses, and later use a period to end your sentence.

•

Keep the quotation WITHIN YOUR text. Indicate the end of one line and the beginning of the next line

with a forward slash spaced separately from the text:

In “Into My Own,” Frost expresses a desire to roam, stating: “I should not be withheld but that some

day / into their vastness I should steal away, / Fearless of ever finding open land” (5-7).

William Shakespeare declares that his “mistress … treads on the ground” (12).

•

The ellipsis (…) used in the example above indicates the omission of a word or words from the original

quotation. This may be used for better integration of a quotation into a text. Note, however, that no ellipsis

is necessary preceding the first word of the quote, although words have been omitted. Similarly, ellipses

are unnecessary at the end of a quote when words have been omitted.

When Quoting Four or More Lines of Poetry:

• Include the author’s name, the title(s) of the poem(s), and the line number(s) in the text (for better source inte-

gration) or within a parenthetical citation.

• In quoting four or more lines, begin the quotation on a new line indented one inch from the left margin, and

reproduce each line of the poem as it appears in your source, double spacing each line and indenting it one

inch. Beginning and ending quotation marks as well as slashes to indicate line breaks are not needed. Place

the parenthetical citation after the final line of the quotation and after final punctuation.

• Note: Unlike sentences containing shorter quotations, which typically end with a period, block quotations end

with the citation:

In “Revelation,” Robert Frost illustrates the way in which we see th

e world:

We make ourselves a place apart

Behind light words that tease and flout,

But oh, the agitated hear

Till someone really find us out. (1-4)

When Quoting From a Book-length Poem:

• If a poem is long enough to be divided into books or cantos, type the title of the poem (italicized), the

book or canto number, a period followed by no space, and the line or line numbers. The citation that foll-

ows refers to book 7, lines 24—28 of Homer’s Odyssey.

I will go before you and show the way, but say

not a word as you go, and do not look at any man,

nor ask him questions; for the people here cannot

abide strangers, and do not like men who come from

some other place. (Odyssey 7.24-28)

A POEM:

Poet’s Name. “Title of Work.” Title of Anthology, edited by before editor’s name. Editor’s name, Edition.

(if available), Publisher, Year, pp. Page number(s).

Frost, James. “Strawberries in a Field.” Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, edited by Thomas

R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Heinle, 2002, pp. 142-144.

A POEM FOUND ONLINE:

Poet’s Name. “Title of Work.” Title of site, Name of institution associated with site, date of publication

(if available), URL (without http:// or https://).

Henley, William E. “Invictus.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation.

A BOOK-LENGTH POEM WITH A TRANSLATOR:

Translator’s name, translator. Title of Work. Poet’s Name, Publishing House, Year.

John Ciardi, translator. Inferno. By Dante Alighieri, NAL, 1971.

Last modified 6/13/16