How to Cite a Poem in MLA Format
Quick answer: How to cite a poem in MLA format: in text, cite the poet and line numbers; in Works Cited, list poet, poem title in quotes, source, and publication details.
To cite a poem in MLA format, give the poet's surname and the line numbers in your in text citation, for example (Dickinson, lines 3-4), then list the full source in your Works Cited: poet's name, poem title in quotation marks, the book or website it appears in italicised, publisher or site details, year, and page numbers or URL. After the first citation of a poem, you may drop the word 'lines' and cite numbers alone.
The logic behind the rules is simple: poems are cited by line, not page, because lines are stable across editions while page numbers are not. Once you hold that principle, most of the fiddly cases resolve themselves.
In text citations, step by step
First citation of a poem: quote the lines, then cite the author if not already named in your sentence, plus 'lines' and the numbers: 'Hope is the thing with feathers' (Dickinson, lines 1). If you have named the poet in the sentence, cite only (lines 1-2). From the second citation onward, numbers alone suffice: (7-8).
If the poem has no line numbers printed and is short enough that counting is trivial, count them yourself. For poems divided into numbered parts or cantos, cite part and line: (2.14-16). And when you cite two poems by the same poet in one essay, add a shortened title to distinguish them: (Dickinson, 'Hope,' 3).
The Works Cited entry
A poem from an anthology follows the pattern: Poet Surname, First Name. 'Poem Title.' Anthology Title, edited by Editor Name, Publisher, Year, pp. page range. A poem from a website swaps the container: Poet Surname, First Name. 'Poem Title.' Site Name, Year if given, URL. Add your date of access if the site is undated or changeable.
Worked examples. Anthology: Frost, Robert. 'The Road Not Taken.' The Norton Anthology of Poetry, edited by Margaret Ferguson et al., W. W. Norton, 2018, pp. 1401-02. Website: Rossetti, Christina. 'Remember.' Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/remember. If you read the poem in the poet's own collection, the collection title is the italicised container and no editor is needed.
Common mistakes that cost marks
The recurring errors are surprisingly consistent: italicising a poem's title (only book length poems such as Paradise Lost are italicised), citing page numbers in text for a lineated poem, forgetting the double slash for stanza breaks inside quotations, and letting a citation drift outside the sentence's full stop. The citation belongs inside the sentence: quote, close quotation marks, bracketed citation, then the full stop.
One more: block quotations reverse that order. In a block quote, the full stop ends the quoted line, and the bracketed citation follows after it, hanging at the end.
What poets can take from this
- Cite line numbers, never page numbers, in the body of your essay.
- Write 'lines' in the first citation of each poem, then use numbers alone.
- Put poem titles in quotation marks; reserve italics for book length poems and containers.
- Keep the parenthetical citation inside the sentence's final full stop, except after block quotes.
- Distinguish multiple poems by one poet with shortened titles in your citations.
- Double check whether your edition prints line numbers before counting your own.
Try it yourself
Choose a public domain poem, quote it three ways in a practice paragraph, a single word, a two line quotation with a slash, and a block quote, and cite each correctly in MLA.
Questions
Do you italicize a poem title in MLA?
No, poem titles go in quotation marks. Italics are reserved for the container, the anthology, collection, or website, and for book length poems such as Paradise Lost or The Odyssey.
How do you cite a poem found online in MLA?
Poet's name, poem title in quotation marks, the website name in italics, the year if available, and the URL. Add an access date when the page gives no publication date.
What if the poem has no line numbers?
Count the lines yourself for a short poem and cite them normally. For long unnumbered poems, MLA permits citing without numbers; name the poet and rely on the quotation to locate the passage.
By the Writory editorial team, reviewed by working poets. Updated July 2026.
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