Epigraph
Quick answer: An epigraph is a short quotation placed at the start of a poem or book to frame what follows. Learn how to choose, format and credit epigraphs well.
An epigraph is a short quotation, from another writer, a song, scripture or even an overheard remark, placed between a poem's title and its first line to frame what follows. It is not part of the poem's body, yet it changes how every line after it is read, the way a key signature changes every note on the staff. Book-length collections use epigraphs too, at the front of the volume or at section openings.
Poets use epigraphs to set tone, borrow a voice to argue with, plant context the poem refuses to explain, or acknowledge a debt. The best epigraphs create productive friction: the poem answers, undercuts or haunts the quoted words rather than merely agreeing with them. A decorative epigraph that just repeats the poem's mood is weight without work.
How It Works
An epigraph installs a second voice above the poem, and meaning happens in the gap between the two. T. S. Eliot opened 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' with lines from Dante's Inferno, spoken by a damned soul who confesses only because he believes no one will return to repeat it; the borrowed confession quietly reframes Prufrock's entire monologue as words from a private hell. The reader who checks the source gets a deeper poem, while the reader who skips it still catches the shadow.
Suppose your poem about a house sale carried the invented epigraph 'All keys eventually open nothing.' The poem never mentions keys again, yet every door and lock in it now vibrates. That is the mechanism: the epigraph is a lens left lying on the doorstep.
Format, Credit and Copyright
Convention sets the epigraph in italics or smaller type below the title, with an attribution line naming author and, ideally, source. Accuracy matters: quote exactly and credit precisely, since a mangled epigraph advertises carelessness before your poem has said a word. Copyright applies as it does anywhere else, so quoting living or recently deceased writers at length can require permission when you publish; short fragments are lower risk, and public domain sources are entirely safe. Check the rules of any journal or contest as well, since some count epigraph lines toward length limits and a few disallow quotations outright.
How to Use Epigraphs in Your Own Poems
Ask one question of a candidate epigraph: what does it do that the poem cannot do for itself? Good answers include establishing a fact silently, importing a voice to resist, or setting a tonal trap the poem then springs. If the honest answer is 'it sounds impressive', cut it. And resist the collection where every poem wears one; epigraphs, like exclamation marks, spend their power fast.
What poets can take from this
- Choose an epigraph that argues with your poem, not one that merely nods along.
- Quote exactly and attribute precisely, down to the source title when possible.
- Prefer short epigraphs; two resonant lines beat eight explanatory ones.
- Check submission guidelines, since some journals and contests count epigraphs in line limits.
- Delete the epigraph as a revision test; if the poem loses nothing, leave it deleted.
Try it yourself
Invent a fictitious epigraph, a line from an imaginary letter, gravestone or instruction manual, credit it to an invented source, and write the poem it demands. Let the poem contradict the epigraph by its final line.
Questions
What is the difference between an epigraph and an epigram?
An epigraph is a quotation placed at the head of a poem or book. An epigram is a complete short poem or saying with a witty turn, a form in its own right. The similar spellings cause endless mix-ups, but they are unrelated jobs.
Do I need permission to use an epigraph?
For public domain sources, no. For work still in copyright, short quotations are often tolerated but publishers may require permission, especially for song lyrics, which are enforced aggressively. When publishing a book, your editor will usually ask you to clear epigraphs.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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