How to Cite a Poem in APA

• Written by Tomas Elliott (Ph.D.)
• Reviewed by Lucas Street

• Published on 07/07/2025
• Updated on 02/06/2026

For millennia, poetry has given readers insight into the human condition: how we think, what we believe, what we choose to attend to and assign value to. For these reasons, poetry can be as relevant to writing in the field of social science as it is to the humanities. To an astute reader, a good poem can reveal as much about how we perceive the world as a psychological study does.

While it may be more common to cite poetry in MLA or Chicago Manual of Style format, there are certainly times when an APA paper might be strengthened by citing a poem. In such cases, the citation must offer an instant identification of the poem as well as the context within a greater work. Proper citation of a poem makes information more understandable, ensures academic honesty, and allows readers to easily access the original content.

This article gives step-by-step guidance on how to reference a poem in proper APA format, whether that poem was first published in a book, an anthology, or found online. Structure formats and examples are given to show how to follow the rules properly.

Understanding APA Style for Poems

APA style is prevalent in the social sciences. For poems, APA prioritizes the source at which the poem can be found. This could be a single-author anthology of poetry, a compiled collection, or a web archive. The in-text citation, as well as the full reference entry, should follow APA guidelines, citing the year of the larger source’s publication (not necessarily the poem’s original publication date–see below for details).

Poem in a Print Anthology

If a poem is included in an edited book or anthology upon publication, the citation will include information regarding the poet, the anthology editor, the book title, page numbers, publisher, and publication year.

Citation	Plath, S. (2000). Lady Lazarus. In D. George (Ed.), Modern female voices (pp. 102–104). HarperCollins.
Structure	Poet Surname, Initial. (Year). Poem title. In Editor Initial. Surname (Ed.), Book title (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.

This format applies when the poem is published within an anthology edited by another person. It is important to italicise the book title but not the poem title–much the same way as APA requires journal titles to be italicised but not article titles. As always in APA format, only capitalise the first word of each title, as well as any proper nouns (such as “Lazarus” in the Plath example above).

Poem from an Online Source

Where a poem is taken from the internet, APA requests the complete URL, but also the traditional publication information if available. Where the poem is part of a digitized book, include information about the book as well.

Citation	Dickinson, E. (2021). Because I could not stop for death. In J. Ferguson (Ed.), American poetry collection. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12242
Structure	Poet Surname, Initial. (Year). Title of poem. In Editor Initial. Surname (Ed.), Title of book. Publisher. URL

Cite the book and URL directly when no editor is provided. Ensure that the URL links directly to the poem or page where it resides. Note that “year” refers to the year the book or website was published, not the year the poem was originally published.

Poems Without Editors or Anthologies

If the poem is posted on its own blog or webpage, cite it as a stand-alone work of poetry.

Citation	Clifton, L. (2020, April 22). Blessing the boats. Poetry Foundation. https://www.poetryfound.org/poems/blessing-the-boats
Structure	Poet Surname, Initial. (Year, Month Day). Poem title. Publisher. URL

In-Text Citation Guidelines

APA uses author-date in-text citation referencing style. In the case of poetry, use the last name of the poet and year of publication. Where there is a specific line or paragraph being quoted, put the page or line number if available.

Paraphrase	(Frost, 2015)
Structure	(Author Surname, Year)

Direct Quote	(Frost, 2015, p. 49)
Structure	(Author Surname, Year, p. Page Number)

Refer to the Original Year of Publication Only If It Is the Same As the Source You Used: You would reference the one you actually employed in APA format. If the poem was originally published in a different year, avoid referencing the original date except where it is essential contextually. Highlight the date of the edition or version you employed in your reference list. Only Use Editors Where They Are Already Incorporated in the Source: Do not insert an editor into a citation unless the source is listed with an editor. If no editor is credited, omit this element entirely for the sake of accuracy in citation. Maintain Original Spelling and Punctuation in Quotations: When quoting a poem, preserve the line breaks, punctuation, and indentation as they appear in the original. In short quotations, use a slash (/) to show line breaks, a double slash (//) to show stanza breaks, and block formatting for longer quotations (40 words and above). Avoid Overuse of Same Poem in Multiple In-Text Citations: If referencing a poem multiple times in an essay, vary your approach—alternate between paraphrasing and quoting. APA encourages clear and concise writing, so citing the same source too frequently may disrupt flow. Use Proper DOI Formatting for Digital Poetry Sources When Available: If you pull a poem from an academic database or publisher website and a DOI is given, list it in the references as an active link (https://doi.org.). APA places DOIs above general URLs for academic publications.