Know how much of the poem you want to quote in your paper. Will one line make your point, or do you need more? Note the exact title of the poem, the author's full name, and the line numbers of the quoted material. Because poems most often appear in volumes that contain many poems--and possibly many authors--record the name of the book in which the poem appears, the editor of the book, the publisher's name and city of publication, and the year the volume was published.
Properly present the lines from the poem. If you quote all or part of a single line of poetry, place quotation marks around the line. When quoting two or three lines, enclose the lines in quotation marks and place a slash with a space on either side of it between the individual lines ( / ). Quote the lines exactly as they appear in the original, even if the line breaks at an unusual spot. If you need to quote four or more lines, begin the quote on a new line in your essay. Indent every quoted line of the poem 1 inch from the left margin and double space all copy. Do not put quotation marks around the indented lines.
Produce an in-text citation. As you refer to the poem's title in your essay, put it in quotation marks. After you quote a line(s) of the poem, place the appropriate line numbers in parentheses: (22-23). Page ranges use an "en dash" between them, not a hyphen. This symbol is available in word processing programs under "Insert/Symbol" in the menu. If you have not mentioned the author's name when introducing the poem, put that in parentheses as well, preceding the line numbers: (Brown 22-23).
Write the Works Cited entry. List the name of the author (last name, first name), followed by a period. Next, give the title of the poem, enclosed in quotation marks and ending with a period. Give the name of the anthology or volume of work in which the poem appears. Italicize the title (some instructors prefer underlining, but the newest MLA Handbook no longer recommends underlining). Place a period after the title. Next, add the name of the anthology's editor. Precede the name with the abbreviation "Ed." and then the editor's name (first name, last name). Place a period after the last name.
Continue the Works Cited entry. List the anthology's publication information in the following order: city of publication, state (use abbreviations that the U.S. Post Office uses) followed a colon; the name of the publishing company, a comma, and the year of publication, followed by a period. List the page numbers on which the poem appears (e.g., 13-18) followed by a period. The newest MLA Handbook asks for the type of source you're citing. If your source is a book, add "Print." That completes your Works Cited citation.