Poems sit in an awkward spot for students: they can appear in anthologies, single-author collections, course packets, or websites, and each style handles them a little differently. This guide shows you exactly how to cite a poem in APA 7th edition, MLA 9th edition, and Chicago (17th and 18th editions), with clean reference examples and the correct in-text forms for each.
What you need before you start
The information you collect is the same across all three styles. Find these details on the title page, copyright page, or website before you build a citation:
- Poet’s name (the author of the poem)
- Title of the poem
- Title of the larger work where you found it (anthology, collection, journal, or website)
- Editor or translator, if there is one
- Publisher and year of publication
- Page range of the poem, or line numbers for quoting
- URL and access details, if the poem is online
One rule holds across every style: a short poem title goes in quotation marks, and the title of the book or website that contains it is set in italics. If you are citing a long, book-length poem published on its own (for example, an epic), the poem’s own title is italicized instead.
How to cite a poem in APA (7th edition)
APA treats a poem in an anthology or collection like a chapter in an edited book. You name the poet, the year, the poem title (no italics, no quotation marks in the reference list), then the editor and the italicized book title, the page range, and the publisher.
Smith, J. (2018). The quiet field. In R. Brown (Ed.), An anthology of modern verse (pp. 45–47). Maple Press.
In-text: (Smith, 2018).
If the whole book is by a single poet, drop the editor and treat it like any authored book.
Smith, J. (2018). The quiet field. In Collected poems (pp. 45–47). Maple Press.
In-text: (Smith, 2018, p. 46).
For a poem you read on a website, end with the site name and the URL.
Smith, J. (2018). The quiet field. Poetry Archive Online. https://www.example.com/the-quiet-field
In-text: (Smith, 2018).
APA does not use line numbers in citations. When you quote, give a page number if one exists. For more on APA mechanics, see our APA format guide, and you can build entries automatically with the APA citation generator.
How to cite a poem in MLA (9th edition)
MLA uses the container model. The poem is the source, and the anthology, journal, or website is its container. List the poet, the poem title in quotation marks, the italicized container title, any editor, the publisher, the year, and the page range.
Smith, Jordan. “The Quiet Field.” An Anthology of Modern Verse, edited by Robin Brown, Maple Press, 2018, pp. 45–47.
In-text: (Smith, lines 1–4); after the first reference, (Smith 12).
For a poem from a website, give the site as the container, the publication date if available, and the URL without “https://”.
Smith, Jordan. “The Quiet Field.” Poetry Archive Online, 2018, www.example.com/the-quiet-field.
In-text: (Smith).
Line numbers for in-text citations in MLA
This is the detail most students get wrong. When you quote a poem in MLA, you cite line numbers, not page numbers, because line numbers stay the same in any edition. The first time you cite, write the word “line” or “lines” so the reader knows the numbers refer to lines and not pages.
- First citation: (Smith, lines 1–4)
- Later citations: (Smith 12) or just (12) if the poet is already named in your sentence
Only use line numbers if the poem actually prints them or if you count them consistently from the start. If the poem has no visible line numbers and you do not want to count, cite the page instead, but be consistent throughout your paper. When you quote up to three lines in your text, separate them with a forward slash surrounded by spaces ( / ), and use two slashes ( // ) for a stanza break.
For the full container logic and punctuation, see our MLA format guide. The MLA citation generator formats the Works Cited entry for you.
How to cite a poem in Chicago (17th/18th edition)
Chicago offers two systems. Notes and Bibliography (common in the humanities) uses footnotes plus a bibliography. Author-Date (common in the sciences) uses parenthetical citations plus a reference list. Choose one and stay with it.
Notes and Bibliography
The footnote and the bibliography entry hold the same facts in a different order. Note the comma versus period punctuation and the inverted name in the bibliography.
Bibliography: Smith, Jordan. “The Quiet Field.” In An Anthology of Modern Verse, edited by Robin Brown, 45–47. Chicago: Maple Press, 2018.
First footnote: 1. Jordan Smith, “The Quiet Field,” in An Anthology of Modern Verse, ed. Robin Brown (Chicago: Maple Press, 2018), 46.
A shortened note is enough after the first full one.
Shortened note: 2. Smith, “Quiet Field,” 47.
Use this short form for every citation after the first full footnote.
Author-Date
The reference list entry moves the year up next to the author, and the in-text citation is parenthetical.
Reference list: Smith, Jordan. 2018. “The Quiet Field.” In An Anthology of Modern Verse, edited by Robin Brown, 45–47. Chicago: Maple Press.
In-text: (Smith 2018, 46).
Need the long form of these rules? Our Chicago style guide walks through both systems, and the Chicago citation generator builds notes and bibliography entries side by side.
Quoting lines of poetry correctly
Formatting the quotation matters as much as the citation. A few quick rules that apply across styles:
- Short quotations (a few lines) stay in your sentence inside quotation marks. Mark line breaks with a slash and spaces ( / ).
- Longer quotations (roughly four or more lines) become a block quote: indent the lines and drop the quotation marks. Keep the poem’s original line breaks, spacing, and capitalization exactly.
- Preserve the original spelling, punctuation, and unusual spacing. Do not “correct” a poet’s style.
- Place the parenthetical citation after the closing punctuation of a block quote, and after the closing quotation mark for a short quote.
If you found the poem quoted inside another book rather than in the original, see how to handle a quotation and the difference between primary and secondary sources.
Choosing and mixing styles
Use the style your instructor or journal requires. Literature courses usually expect MLA, social sciences lean APA, and history favors Chicago. If you are still deciding or comparing, our overview of citation styles explained and the side-by-side APA vs MLA comparison can help. Whatever you choose, apply it consistently across every source, including any websites or books you cite alongside your poems.
Frequently asked questions
Do I use page numbers or line numbers when citing a poem?
It depends on the style. APA and Chicago use page numbers in the citation. MLA prefers line numbers for in-text references because they stay constant across editions. In MLA, write “line” or “lines” the first time, for example (Smith, lines 1–4), then use numbers alone afterward.
Is the poem title in italics or quotation marks?
A short poem’s title goes in quotation marks in MLA and Chicago, and without italics or quotation marks in an APA reference-list entry. The italics are reserved for the larger work that contains the poem, such as the anthology, collection, journal, or website. A book-length poem published on its own takes italics for its own title.
How do I cite a poem I found on a website?
Name the poet and poem title, treat the website as the container or source, and add the URL. In APA, include the year and site name. In MLA, give the site name in italics, the date if available, and the URL without “https://”. In Chicago, add the website name and URL to the standard note and bibliography forms.
How do I show line breaks when I quote two or three lines?
For short quotations run into your text, use a forward slash with a space on each side ( / ) to mark each line break, and two slashes ( // ) to mark a stanza break. For quotations of about four lines or more, set them as an indented block quote that keeps the poem’s original line breaks instead.