Make note of information about the poem, such as the author, the title of the poem and the book, editor’s name, publisher, city of publication, year published, and page numbers the poem appears on. Writing this information on an index card keeps it organized and easy to find when creating your citation.
Include this poem in your Works Cited list. Write the author’s last name and first name, separated by a comma and followed by a period. The title of the poem is written next in quotations, followed by the title of the book and a period. The book’s title should be underlined. If there is an editor, write “Ed.” And the editor’s first and last name, followed by a period. Next, include the city of publication, a colon, the publisher’s name, a comma, and the year of publication. Lastly, write the page numbers the poem is located on, followed by a period. For example:
Smith, Joan. “Flowers on the Sun.” A to Z Book of Poetry. Ed. Sam White. New York: XYZ Press, 2008. 20.
Format the citation in your Works Cited list by making sure the first line is flush left and any additional lines are indented one half-inch.
Create an in-text citation for the poem within the paper you are writing. Write a short introduction to the poem, such as the following: In her poem “Flowers on the Sun,” Joan Smith explores the beauty within a person. Instead of a period at the end of the sentence, use a colon. Then include the poem, keeping the formatting as close to the original formatting as possible. Additionally, indent each line of the poem one-inch from the left margin. At the end of the poem, write the editor’s name and poem’s page number in parenthesis. Unlike other in-text citations, this should come after the period. If there is no editor, use a shortened version of the book’s title.