How to Cite Poems and Short Stories in MLA Format [2026 Guide]

Poems and short stories require special attention in MLA citations, as they're often published within collections or anthologies. This guide explains how to cite poetry, short stories, and literary works using MLA 9th edition format with clear examples for various publication contexts.

Understanding Poetry and Short Story Citations

In MLA format, poems and short stories are treated as parts of larger containers. When published in collections, anthologies, or online, the poem or story title appears in quotation marks while the container (book, website, journal) is italicized. For long poems published as standalone books, the title is italicized like a book title.

Poem from a Collection Format

Poet Last Name, First Name. "Poem Title." Collection Title, Publisher, Year, pages.

Poems from Collections

Poem from Single-Author Collection

Plath, Sylvia. "Daddy." Ariel, Harper & Row, 1965, pp. 49-51.

Poem from Anthology

Frost, Robert. "The Road Not Taken." The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry, edited by Richard Ellmann and Robert O'Clair, 3rd ed., Norton, 2003, pp. 281-282.

Poem with Multiple Containers

Dickinson, Emily. "Because I could not stop for Death." The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson, Little, Brown, 1960, p. 350. Reprinted inAmerican Poetry: The Nineteenth Century, vol. 1, Library of America, 1993, p. 820.

Long Poem or Epic Published as Book

Eliot, T. S. The Waste Land. Horace Liveright, 1922.

Poems from Periodicals

Poem in Literary Journal

Oliver, Mary. "Wild Geese." Poetry, vol. 148, no. 6, Sept. 1986, p. 40.

Poem in Magazine

Collins, Billy. "Forgetfulness." The New Yorker, 23 Oct. 1995, p. 76.

Online Poems

Poem on Website

Angelou, Maya. "Still I Rise." Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise.

Poem from Online Database

Yeats, William Butler. "The Second Coming." The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, 9th ed., vol. 2, Norton, 2012, pp. 2036-2037. Norton Anthology Online, www.norton.com/nael.

Special Poetry Citations

Poem with Original Publication Date

Whitman, Walt. "Song of Myself." 1855. Leaves of Grass, Modern Library, 2001, pp. 25-94.

Translated Poem

Neruda, Pablo. "Tonight I Can Write." Translated by W. S. Merwin, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, Penguin, 2004, pp. 66-68.

Anonymous or Traditional Poem

"Beowulf." Translated by Seamus Heaney, Norton, 2000.

Short Story Citations

Short Story from Collection

Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." Cathedral, Knopf, 1983, pp. 209-228.

Short Story from Anthology

O'Connor, Flannery. "A Good Man Is Hard to Find." The Norton Introduction to Literature, edited by Kelly J. Mays, 13th ed., Norton, 2019, pp. 402-413.

Short Story in Literary Journal

Munro, Alice. "The Bear Came Over the Mountain." The New Yorker, 27 Dec. 1999, pp. 110-126.

Short Story Online

Poe, Edgar Allan. "The Tell-Tale Heart." Project Gutenberg, 2008, www.gutenberg.org/files/2147/2147-h/2147-h.htm.

In-Text Citations

Poems with Line Numbers

The speaker reflects on mortality: "Because I could not stop for Death— / He kindly stopped for me—" (Dickinson, lines 1-2).

Poems without Line Numbers

Oliver's imagery connects human experience with nature ("Wild Geese").

Short Stories with Page Numbers

The narrator experiences a moment of revelation (Carver 227).

Subsequent Line References

First reference: (Frost, lines 18-20)
Subsequent: (lines 22-24)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Italicizing Short Poem Titles

Short poems use quotation marks, not italics. Only book-length poems are italicized.

2. Using Page Numbers for Online Poems

Online poems without pagination use line numbers or no locator in citations.

3. Forgetting Line Breaks in Quotations

Use a slash (/) with spaces to indicate line breaks when quoting poetry: "line one / line two".

4. Not Including Original Publication Date

For historical poems, include the original date if relevant after the author's name.

5. Confusing "lines" with "ll."

First reference uses "lines"; subsequent references can use line numbers alone: (18-20).

6. Missing Anthology Editor

Always include "edited by" for anthology citations, crediting the editor(s).

Quoting Poetry in Your Text

Special rules apply when quoting poetry:

Short quotations (1-3 lines): Use quotation marks with slashes for line breaks
Longer quotations (4+ lines): Use block quotation format without quotes
Line breaks: Use " / " (space-slash-space) for line breaks in running text
Stanza breaks: Use " // " (space-double slash-space) for stanza breaks
Line numbers: Cite by line numbers, not page numbers when available

Finding Citation Information

Table of contents: Lists poem/story titles and page numbers
Copyright page: Contains publication year and publisher
Title page: Shows author, collection title, and sometimes editor
Online databases: Provide full bibliographic information
Line numbers: Some editions include them; count manually if absent

Why Proper Poetry Citation Matters

Accurate poetry and short story citations enable readers to locate specific editions and line numbers, credit editors and translators who make works accessible, distinguish between original and reprinted publications, and support analysis with verifiable textual references. In literary studies, precise citation is essential for scholarly discourse.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I use line numbers or page numbers?

Use line numbers for poems when available. Use page numbers for anthologies and collections that don't number lines.

How do I cite a sonnet or specific poetic form?

Cite it like any poem. You can mention the form in your text but not in the citation.

What if I found the poem on multiple websites?

Choose the most authoritative source (Poetry Foundation, university site, published collection).

Should I include the publication date of the original poem?

Include it after the author's name if relevant to your analysis or for historical context.

Conclusion

Citing poems and short stories in MLA format requires attention to container relationships and proper use of line numbers versus page numbers. Whether citing classic literature or contemporary work, from printed anthologies or online databases, these guidelines ensure your literary citations support scholarly analysis and enable readers to locate and verify your sources. Master these citation practices to strengthen your literary research and contribute to academic conversations with precision and credibility.