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MLA Style Guide: Poems

This guide covers how in-text citations and references should be formatted in the MLA Style, 9th Edition.

Poem from an anthology

Reference: Poem Author’s Last name, First name. "Title of Poem.” Title of Collection, edited by Editor(s) First name, Last name, Edition, Publisher, Year of Publication. Page range. Line numbers (if available).

Example: Jonson, Ben. "To the Memory of My Beloved, the Author Mr. William Shakespeare." The Norton Anthology of Poetry, edited by Alexander Allison et al., 3rd Edition, New York Norton, 1983, pp. 239-40.

In-Text-Citation:

  • (Author Last name Page no)
  • (Page no)

Example:

  • In this poem (Jonson 239)….
  • Jonson declares his admiration for Shakespeare (239)….

Note: In the full reference/Works Cited section, list the author's name as it appears in the work, i.e. last name and full first name or last name and initials.

Still unsure what in-text citation and referencing mean? Check here. 

Still unsure why you need to reference all this information? Check here.