How To Cite A Poem In MLA And APA Styles - EssayPro

How to Cite a Poem in MLA

MLA format has rules for everything — line breaks, punctuation, page numbers — and missing a step can cost you points. Good news: citing a poem MLA is more straightforward than it seems. 

Citing a Poem in References (MLA)

Here, you’re showing exactly where you got the information so your reader (and your instructor) can trace it easily. The basic format changes slightly depending on where you found the poem, whether in a collection or anthology. 

When citing the title of a poem in MLA:

• Use quotation marks for the poem’s title.
• Italicize the title of the collection, anthology, or website.
• Page ranges matter if the poem spans multiple pages (e.g., pp. 15-16).

Source Type	Citation Format	Example
📕 Poem from a Collection	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Poem Title.” Title of Collection, edited by Editor’s Name (if applicable), Publisher, Year, Page Number(s).	Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” The Poetry of Robert Frost, edited by Edward Connery Lathem, Henry Holt, 1979, pp. 15-16.
📗 How to Cite a Poem in an Anthology	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Poem Title.” Title of Anthology, edited by Editor’s Name, Publisher, Year, Page Number(s).	Angelou, Maya. “Still I Rise.” The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr., W.W. Norton, 1996, pp. 871-872.
🌐 Poem from a Website	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Poem Title.” Website Name, Publication Date, URL. Accessed Date.	Plath, Sylvia. “Lady Lazarus.” Poetry Foundation, 2010, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49000/lady-lazarus. Accessed 5 Jan. 2024.

How to Cite a Poem In-Text (MLA)

To cite a poem in text, MLA uses a simple system: you reference the poet’s last name and the line numbers (or page numbers if no lines are listed).

Short quotes (3 lines or fewer) can be included directly in your paragraph, using slashes ( / ) to indicate line breaks and quotation marks around the text:

Example: Frost reflects on choice when he writes, “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, / And sorry I could not travel both” (lines 1-2).

If you’re quoting 4 lines or more, MLA requires a block quote format. That means you’ll indent the entire quote half an inch from the left margin and remove quotation marks:

Example: In Because I Could Not Stop for Death, Dickinson explores mortality:Because I could not stop for Death,He kindly stopped for me;The Carriage held but just OurselvesAnd Immortality. (lines 1-4)

If the poem doesn’t have line numbers (especially the poem online), MLA suggests citing the page number or just the poet’s name.

Scenario	Example
📄 No Line Numbers, Use Page Number	“Your head so much concerned with outer, / Mine with inner, weather.” (Frost 126).
🌐 No Line or Page Numbers (Online)	“Tell me, what is it you plan to do / with your one wild and precious life?” (Oliver).

And if you’re referencing more than one poem by the same poet in your essay, you need to make sure the reader knows which poem you’re referring to. Just add the poem title in the in-text citation.

Example:“And miles to go before I sleep” (Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” line 15).

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How to Cite a Poem in APA

Citing a poem APA is really just about keeping things organized and giving proper credit. APA is often used for social sciences, but it works perfectly for poetry too, as long as you follow some basic rules.

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Citing a Poem in References (APA)

The format changes slightly depending on where the poem was found, but the basics stay the same: you’ll need the poet’s name, the year of publication, the poem’s title, and the source where it was published:

• Italicize the poem title in the reference list but use quotation marks for in-text citations.
• Always italicize the collection or anthology title.
• If the poem is part of an edited collection, include the editor’s name with (Ed.) after the collection title.
• If the poem covers multiple pages, include the full range.
• For poems found online, include the publication date and the URL.

Source Type	Citation Format	Example
📕 Poem from a Collection	Poet’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Poem Title. In Editor’s Name (Ed.), Title of Collection (pp. page range). Publisher.	Hughes, L. (1994). The Negro Speaks of Rivers. In D. Roessel (Ed.), The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (pp. 23-24). Knopf.
📗 Citing a Poem in an Anthology	Poet’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Poem Title. In Editor’s Name (Ed.), Title of Anthology (pp. page range). Publisher.	Clifton, L. (2017). won't you celebrate with me. In R. Young (Ed.), The Art of Losing: Poems of Grief and Healing (pp. 200-201). Bloomsbury.
🌐 Citing a Poem from a Website	Poet’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year, Month Day). Poem Title. Website Publisher. URL	Smith, T. (2018, March 4). Don't Call Us Dead. Poetry Foundation. www.poetryfoundation.org.

How to Cite a Poem in APA In-Text

APA’s in-text citation system is refreshingly simple. It uses an author-date system where you include the poet’s last name and the year of publication right after the quote.

If you’re quoting 3 lines or fewer, keep the quote within your sentence. Use slashes ( / ) to mark line breaks and add the poet’s last name, year, and line number in parentheses.

Example: Brooks reflects on childhood when she writes, “We real cool. We / Left school. We / Lurk late” (Brooks, 1960, lines 1-3).

If your quote is longer than two or three lines (or more than 40 words), APA requires you to format it as a block quote. The entire quote should be indented 0.5 inches from the left margin, double-spaced, and without quotation marks.

Example:I know why the caged bird sings,Ah me,When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,When he beats his bars and he would be free. (Angelou, 1969, lines 3-6)

If the poem you’re citing doesn’t have line numbers, APA suggests using page numbers instead (if available). If you’re quoting from an online source with no numbering, you can simply include the poet’s name and the publication year. Here’s how to cite a poem with no line number:

Scenario	Example Citation
📄 No Line Numbers, Use Page Number	“I am in love with this world / Which spared me” (Oliver, 1992, p. 44).
🌐 No Line or Page Numbers (Online)	“Let us go then, you and I” (Eliot, 1915).

And if you’re referencing more than one poem by the same poet in your paper, make sure to clarify which poem you’re quoting by adding the poem’s title directly in your in-text citation.

Example: “I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)” (Cummings, 1952, I Carry Your Heart, line 5).

How to Cite a Poem in Chicago Style

Citing a poem Chicago style sounds fancy, but it’s actually pretty straightforward once you break it down. Whether you’re quoting a single line from Robert Frost or a whole stanza from Maya Angelou, Chicago just wants you to give credit the right way with footnotes and a bibliography.

Citing a Poem in the Bibliography (Chicago)

Here’s how it works depending on where you found the poem, but the same core rules apply:

• Always use quotation marks for the poem’s title.
• Italicize the title of the collection, anthology, or website.
• If the poem spans multiple pages, list the full range.
• If the collection has an editor, include their name with “Edited by” before it.

Source Type	Citation Format	Example
📕 Poem from a Collection	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Poem.” Title of Collection. Edited by Editor’s Name. Publisher, Year Published, Page Number(s).	Gorman, Amanda. “The Hill We Climb.” The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country. Viking, 2021, pp. 4-7.
📗 Poem from an Anthology	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Poem Title.” Title of Anthology. Edited by Editor’s Name. Publisher, Year, Page Number(s).	Blake, William. “The Tyger.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Edited by Stephen Greenblatt. Norton, 2018, pp. 562-563.
🌐 Poem from a Website	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Poem Title.” Website Name. Last modified Date. URL.	Giovanni, Nikki. “Ego Tripping.” Poetry Foundation. Accessed January 5, 2024. www.poetryfoundation.org.

How to Cite a Poem In Footnotes (Chicago)

Chicago skips the whole parenthetical citation thing and uses footnotes or endnotes instead. This means you’ll put a small superscript number after the quote and list the full source at the bottom of the page.

For short quotes (3 lines or fewer), keep it in your sentence with slashes ( / ) separating the lines and quotation marks around the text.

Example: Gorman reflects on unity when she writes, *“We are striving to forge a union with purpose, / To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters, and conditions of man”*¹.

For long quotes (4 lines or more), indent the entire quote 0.5 inches from the left margin. Don’t use quotation marks, and keep the poem's original line breaks and formatting.

Example:O Rose, thou art sick!The invisible worm,That flies in the nightIn the howling storm.¹

The corresponding footnote or endnote entry would appear as:

Example: ¹ Amanda Gorman, “The Hill We Climb,” in The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country (Viking, 2021), 4-7.

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How to Cite a Poem in Turabian Style

Turabian is basically a more student-friendly version of Chicago style, designed to help you give credit without all the confusing extras. It relies on footnotes or endnotes for in-text citations and a bibliography at the end of your paper to list all your sources.

Citing a Poem in the Bibliography (Turabian)

Whether the poem came from a book, an anthology, or a website, the format stays pretty similar to the Chicago style:

Source Type	Citation Format	Example
📕 Poem from a Collection	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Poem Title.” Title of Collection. Edited by Editor’s Name. Publisher, Year, Page Number(s).	Collins, Billy. “Introduction to Poetry.” The Apple That Astonished Paris. Edited by John Anderson. University of Arkansas Press, 1996, pp. 45-46.
📗 Poem from an Anthology	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Poem Title.” Title of Anthology. Edited by Editor’s Name. Publisher, Year, Page Number(s).	Kaur, Rupi. “The Sun and Her Flowers.” The Best Contemporary Poetry Anthology. Edited by Dana Smith. HarperCollins, 2020, pp. 120-121.
🌐 Poem from a Website	Poet’s Last Name, First Name. “Poem Title.” Website Name. Last modified Date. URL.	Kay, Sarah. “If I Should Have a Daughter.” Button Poetry. Accessed January 5, 2024. www.buttonpoetry.com.

How to Cite a Poem In-Text (Turabian Footnotes)

When quoting a poem directly in your essay, Turabian uses footnotes instead of parenthetical citations. Place a small superscript number right after the quote and include the full source information at the bottom of the page.

Short quotes (3 lines or fewer) stay within the sentence and use slashes ( / ) to indicate line breaks.

Example: Collins describes poetry as *“a place for the reader to hold the poem up to the light / like a color slide / or press an ear against its hive”*¹.

For longer excerpts (4 lines or more), Turabian requires a block quote format. The quote should be indented half an inch from the left margin, without quotation marks.

Example:I have done it again.One year in every tenI manage it—A sort of walking miracle.¹

The footnote entry should match the information in your bibliography but be slightly condensed.

Example: ¹ Billy Collins, “Introduction to Poetry,” in The Apple That Astonished Paris, ed. John Anderson (University of Arkansas Press, 1996), 45-46.

Citation Survival Hacks (Because Rules Matter)

Once you get the hang of it, it’s more about consistency than perfection. Whether you're working with MLA, APA, Chicago, or Turabian, here are some essential tips to keep your poem citation sharp:

• Book Titles in Italics: Always italicize the title of book or collection the poem is part of, like The Collected Poems of Sylvia Plath.
• Poem Titles in Quotation Marks: Use quotation marks around the title, like “Ode to a Nightingale.”
• Multi-Volume Anthologies: If you're citing a multi-volume anthology, don’t forget the volume number (e.g., Vol. 2). Example: The Norton Anthology of Poetry, Vol. 1.
• Editions Matter: If you’re working with a specific revised or updated edition, be sure to include that detail. Example: The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, 2nd ed.
• No Publication Date?: If a poem is from a website and lacks a clear publication date, use "n.d." (no date) in APA or “Accessed [date]” for MLA and Chicago.
• Consistent Formatting: Whether it’s MLA or APA, stick to the same citation format throughout your entire paper. Switching styles midway = confusing and messy.
• URLs for Online Poems: If you’re citing a website, avoid hyperlinks and just list the full URL (e.g., www.poetryfoundation.org). MLA and APA also recommend including access dates if content might change.
• Consult the Official Style Guide: Styles evolve. Check the MLA Handbook, APA Publication Manual, or Chicago Manual of Style for the latest updates, especially when citing digital sources.

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Poem Citation Example

Check out this PDF with a complete poem citation example, so you can see exactly how to format your references and in-text citations the right way.

Poem Citation Example Poem Citation Example

Wrapping It Up: Your Poem Citation Game Plan

Figuring out how to cite a poem is really just about keeping things clear and consistent: quotation marks for poem titles, italics for collections, and remembering page numbers or line numbers when they matter. Whether it’s MLA, APA, Chicago, or Turabian, the goal is the same: giving credit where it’s due without overcomplicating things. 

Stick to the basics, follow your style guide, and your citations will be good to go. And remember, whether it’s poems or complex formulas, our help is just a click away when you're tackling tough assignments.