How to Cite Poems

If you're writing an essay or research paper that references poetry, you need to properly cite that poetry. Although citing poems is quite easy, knowing everything that you need to include in your citation will take some time. Also, ask your instructor which style guide to use -- Modern Language Association (MLA), American Psychological Association (APA) or Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS).

Instructions

  1. American Psychological Association Style

    • 1

      Determine the poem's full title, its author, its date of publication, its location of publication, its publisher and the name of the work it appeared in.

    • 2

      Cite the poem within the text of your essay using the poem's author, year of publication and page number. Include each of these bits of information in parentheses at the end of the quotation if you do not include them within the sentence. For example, "The last poem in the collection, Romantic Dogs, is "With the Flies," which ends 'You are free/ Admirable poets of Troy'" (Bolano, 2006, p. 143). If you were to mention the name of the author or the date of publication in the sentence, you do not need to repeat this information within the citation.

    • 3

      Cite the poem at the end of your essay on the reference page. The citation would look like this if it came from a book by the author: "Bolano, Roberto (2006). With the Flies. The Romantic Dogs, 143. New York, NY: New Directions." If the poem came from an anthology that had an editor, the citation would like this: "Bolano, Roberto (2006). With the Flies. In J. Editor (Ed.). Chilean Poetry, 143. New York, NY: New Directions."

    Modern Language Association Style

    • 4

      Determine the poem's full title, its author, its date of publication, its location of publication, its publisher and the name of the work it appeared in.

    • 5

      Cite the author's name and the page number the poem is found on when using an in-text citation. For example, "The last poem in The Romantic Dogs is 'With the Flies,' which begins 'Poets of Troy' (Bolano, 143)." You do not need to include the author's name if you have used it in the sentence.

    • 6

      Cite the poem you used in your works cited page at the end of your essay. The citation for a poem from the author's own book or anthology would look like this: "Bolano, Roberto. 'With the Flies.' Romantic Dogs. New York, NY: New Directions, 2006. 143. Print." If the poem was within an anthology that had an editor, the citation would look like this: Bolano, Roberto. 'With the Flies.' The Romantic Dogs. Ed. J. Editor. New York, NY: New Directions, 2006. 143. Print."

    Chicago Manual of Style

    • 7

      Determine the poem's full title, its author, its date of publication, its location of publication, its publisher and the name of the work it appeared in.

    • 8

      Insert a superscript number after the quotation that corresponds to a number in your footnotes or endnotes.

    • 9

      Write the number the footnote or endnote corresponds to at the bottom or end of your paper. If you are citing a poem from an author's work, the citation would look like this: 1. Bolano. Robert. "With the Flies." In The Romantic Dogs, 143. New York, NY: New Directions, 2006. If you are citing a poem from within an edited work, the citation would look like this: 1. Bolano, Roberto. "With the Flies." In Romantic Dogs, edited by J. Editor, 143. New York, NY: New Directions, 2006.

Learnify Hub © www.0685.com All Rights Reserved