How to Cite Lines of a Poem
- 1). Cite text from a poem by placing it in quotation marks within your paper. When quoting two to three lines from a poem, use a forward slash to indicate the separate lines. Insert a space before and after a slash. Before the ending punctuation mark, place the line numbers in parentheses.
- 2). Use the following example as a model when quoting two to three lines of poetry: William Wordsworth begins the poem by writing, "I wandered lonely as a cloud / That floats on high o'er vales and hills" (1-2).
- 3). Use block format when quoting four or more lines from a poem. Start each line from the poem on a new line in the paper and indent each line 10 spaces from the left margin. Omit quotation marks and slashes from the quote. Place the parentheses containing the line numbers after the ending punctuation mark.
- 4). Follow this example of a block citation: In Robert Frost's poem Dust of Snow, he writes:
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree. (1-4) - 5). Include the last name of the poem's author in parentheses if you do not introduce the author in the text before the quotation. For example: (Browning 3-4).
- 6). Omit words when quoting poetry by using using ellipses (. . .). For example: "Past the pits. . . / We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow" (Silverstein 9-10).
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