1. Short Quotations (One or Two Lines)
* Embed the lines directly into your sentence: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep," writes Frost, "but I have promises to keep."
* Use quotation marks around the lines: "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost opens with the lines, "Whose woods these are I think I know."
* If quoting only a single line, do not use a line break: Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" begins with the line, "Whose woods these are I think I know."
2. Quoting Three Lines
* Indent each line of the quote:
"Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here."
* Use quotation marks around the entire block of quoted lines:
"Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here."
General Rules
* Capitalize the first line of a poem, even if it is only a fragment.
* Use a slash (/) to indicate line breaks within the quotation.
* When quoting three or more lines, format them as a block quote, indented from the left margin.
* Always cite the author and the title of the poem.
* If you need to make any changes to the quote (like adding emphasis or omitting a line), indicate the change with ellipses (...).
Example:
"Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here..." These opening lines from Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" set the stage for a poem about the allure of solitude.
Let me know if you'd like more examples or have any other questions!