How to Cite a Poem in APA Format
Quick answer: How to cite a poem in APA format: in-text citations with poet and year, reference list entries for anthologies and websites, plus advice on line numbers.
In APA style, cite a poem the way you would any other source: give the poet's surname and the year in the text, for example (Frost, 1916), and provide a full reference for the book, anthology or website where you read it. APA has no special poetry system, so for direct quotations most instructors accept line or stanza numbers in place of page numbers, but confirm with your marking guidelines.
APA is built for psychology papers, not literature essays, which is why poems feel awkward in it. If your course lets you choose, MLA handles verse far more gracefully. When APA is required, though, the rules below cover every common case, from a poem in an anthology to one you found online.
In-text citations
For a paraphrase, the author-date format is enough: (Dickinson, 1890). For a direct quotation, APA asks you to locate the passage. With a printed anthology, use the page number: (Hughes, 1994, p. 32). Where pages are useless or absent, as on a website, cite lines or stanzas: (Frost, 1916, lines 9-10). Keep line breaks marked with a forward slash inside short quotations, exactly as you would in MLA.
Reference list entries
Match the pattern to where you actually read the poem, not where it first appeared.
Classic poems and republished dates
Most classic poems are read in modern editions, and APA wants both dates: the original and the one you used. In text, that looks like (Dickinson, 1890/1998); in the reference list, add '(Original work published 1890)' at the end of the entry. This matters for accuracy, since citing Blake as a 1997 author looks careless, and markers do notice.
APA or MLA for poetry essays?
MLA is the default in literature departments because it was designed for exactly this: line-number citations, slash conventions and block quotation rules are all native to it. APA turns up when poetry appears inside psychology, education or nursing coursework, a paper on poetry therapy, say. Follow whatever the assignment specifies, and if nothing is specified, ask; guessing wrong costs more time than the email does.
What poets can take from this
- Cite poet and year in text, and the source you actually read in the reference list.
- Use line numbers for quotations when page numbers make no sense.
- Give both dates for classics: (Dickinson, 1890/1998).
- Mark line breaks with a forward slash in short quotations.
- Use (n.d.) for undated poems on websites.
- Check whether your course actually wants MLA before formatting everything in APA.
Try it yourself
Find a public domain poem online, then write one sentence quoting two of its lines with a correct APA in-text citation, followed by the matching reference list entry.
Questions
How do I cite a poem from a website in APA?
Poet, year (or n.d.), poem title, site name, URL. In text, cite the poet and year, adding line numbers if you quote directly.
Do I italicise poem titles in APA?
Individual poem titles sit in plain roman type in the reference list, while the collection or anthology title is italicised. In your prose, short poem titles take quotation marks.
How do I quote a poem in APA if it has no page numbers?
Use line numbers, stanza numbers, or a section description, whichever lets a reader find the passage. APA explicitly allows these alternatives when pages are absent.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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