Library FAQs

• If the writer's name is in your sentence, do not include it in the parentheses after the quote, only the page or line number(s).
• If the poem is short and from a print source, include the page number in the citation.  Include only the number, do not use p. or pp.
• If the poem is from a source with no page numbers, no number should be included in the parentheses, only the writer's last name or an abbreviated title (in quotation marks), depending on what information you've included in your sentence and how many poems from the same author you quote in your paper..
• If your sentence includes the author's name and poem title and the source has no page numbers, don't include a parenthetical citation, at all.
• If the poem is long and the source you are using numbers the lines, put the line numbers in parentheses with the word line(s) before the line number(s). For example, (line 27) or (lines 16-18).
• If the poem is long and in sections with line numbers that start with 1 at the beginning of each section, include the section type and its number as well as the line number(s). For example, (bk.18, lines 133-137).
• If the poem is long but the source does not include line numbers, use the page number and, if applicable, any division used in the source poem.  You do not have to count the lines yourself.
• If you are quoting from more than one poem by the same writer, and the title is not mentioned in your sentence, include a shortened version of the poem's title, in quotation marks, in the parentheses followed by the page or section and line number, if any of those are available.
• Put punctuation from your sentence (if any, like a comma or a period) outside the parentheses.

Source: Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook. 9th ed., The Modern Language Association of America, 2021.