How to Cite Poems Found Online in MLA Style - Pen and the Pad Search Glass Search Glass How to Reference a Poem Title in an Essay How to Cite Poem Lines and Stanzas How to Cite Songs in APA Format How to Cite a Protocol How to Cite Movie Lines in MLA in an Essay How to Cite Poems Found Online in MLA Style Jennifer Spirko » Finding poetry online is easy; documenting it, however, can be tricky. The first step, as with any internet research, is evaluating the source to ensure its validity, particularly by investigating the site’s sponsorship. Once you find a poem online to use in your research, the 7th edition of the Modern Language Association handbook provides clear guidelines for documenting the source. The Works Cited ListThe Works Cited list should include six elements: The author’s name The poem title in quotation marks The website title in italics The date the poem was posted (in day-month-year order) The publication medium (Web) The date you accessed the poem The MLA does not require use of URLs, or web “addresses,” because they are ephemeral and often unwieldy. If your instructor asks you to include one, place it at the end of the citation in angular brackets followed by a period, like this: . Alphabetize the entire Works Cited list, and use hanging indents so that in every reference, all lines after the first one are indented a half inch. Here is an example: Wright, James. “A Blessing.” Poetry Foundation [italics]. 1990. Web. 25 April 2013. In-Text CitationWhen you quote the poem within the paper itself, give the author’s name either when you introduce the reference or in parentheses following. Even if you cite the author’s name within the text, cite the line numbers in the parentheses. To format a quotation, enclose it in quotation marks and place a slash to designate a change in lines, and retain the original capitalization. Quoting the final two lines of James Wright’s poem “A Blessing,” for instance, would look like this: "... if I stepped out of my body I would break / Into blossom" (Wright 23-24). Note that an ellipsis is used to designate words omitted from the original, and the period goes after the parenthetical citation, not within the quotation marks. Format a longer quotation, more than three lines of poetry, differently. Indent the entire passage, and retain the original line breaks. Do not use quotation marks around these long, indented quotes, and punctuate them as they are in the original. There is no punctuation after the parentheses. This is how a longer quote from "A Blessing" would look: They ripple tensely, they can hardly contain their happiness That we have come. They bow shyly as wet swans. They love each other. There is no loneliness like theirs. (Wright 9-12) Need help with a citation? Try our . References Writer Bio Jennifer Spirko has been writing professionally for more than 20 years, starting at "The Knoxville Journal." She has written for "MetroPulse," "Maryville-Alcoa Daily Times" and "Some" monthly. She has taught writing at North Carolina State University and the University of Tennessee. Spirko holds a Master of Arts from the Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-on-Avon, England. Cite this Article Copyright 2025 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Education Manage Preferences , The Poetry Foundation suggests including the author’s name and the poem’s title in both the citing in the text and the Works Cited list in order to avoid these problems. Conclusion. Whether you are citing a poem in an HTML format or in an academic paper, be sure to use MLA guidelines when citing a poem from the Poetry Foundation., Wright, James. “A Blessing.” Poetry Foundation [italics]. 1990. Web. 25 April 2013. In-Text Citation. When you quote the poem within the paper itself, give the author’s name either when you introduce the reference or in parentheses following. Even if you cite the author’s name within the text, cite the line numbers in the parentheses..