# English literature MLA citations: poems, plays, novels, films **How do I cite poems, plays, novels, films and other literary sources in MLA 9?** In MLA 9, cite a poem by line numbers, a verse play by act, scene and line, and a novel by page. The Works Cited entry names the edition you read, with its editor or translator, and a poem or story in an anthology takes the anthology as its container. EdCitation's free Cite a source builds each entry from the publisher's record. Published 2026-09-26 by EdCitation. https://edcitation.com/newsletter/english-literature-mla-citations An English literature essay cites an unusual range of sources: a poem by its lines, a play by act, scene and line, a novel by page, a film by its time stamps, and a translation under the name of the person who wrote the original. This guide gives the MLA 9 pattern for each, in the Works Cited list and in your sentences, with examples checked on 27 September 2026. EdCitation publishes it, and its [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/mla) looks each edition up by ISBN or DOI in the publisher's record rather than writing an entry; the runs below show what you still add by hand. Every rule comes from the MLA Style Center. The ninth-edition *MLA Handbook* was not opened, so its contents are reported as the Style Center describes them, and several posts were written for the eighth edition. How to write the essay is in [How to write a literary analysis essay in MLA](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-a-literary-analysis-essay-in-mla); which set-text edition to buy is in [English literature set texts and criticism](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/english-literature-set-texts-and-criticism); the page itself is in the [MLA 9 Works Cited guide](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/mla-9-works-cited-guide). ## How do I cite each kind of literary source in MLA 9? The Modern Language Association (n.d.-b) says the ninth edition added an appendix of hundreds of sample entries by format; the patterns below come from the Style Center. | Source | Works Cited pattern | In the text | Rule read at | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Short poem on a website | Poet. "Poem." *Site*, URL. | (Owen): no number | MLA 2016a, 2020c | | Long poem with numbered lines | Poet. *Poem*. Translated by …, Publisher, year. | (lines 1-3), then (4-6); book 9, line 19 is 9.19 | MLA 2016a, 2020b | | Poem in an anthology | Poet. "Poem." *Anthology*, edited by …, Publisher, year, p. 00. | lines, if the edition numbers them | MLA 2018a; its ISBN in [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/mla) | | Verse play | Shakespeare, William. *Play*. Edited by …, Publisher, year. | (1.2.150) | MLA 2017a, 2020a | | Novel | Author. *Novel*. Publisher, year. | (page); (page; ch. 3) helps other editions | Purdue OWL | | Story or essay in an anthology | Author. "Story." *Anthology*, edited by …, Publisher, year, pp. 00-00. | (Author page) | MLA 2018a | | Translation | Author. *Title*. Translated by …, Publisher, year. | (Author page) | MLA 2019a | | Film | *Title*. Directed by …, Company, year. | (1:22:07–18) | MLA n.d.-a, 2025b | | TV episode | "Episode." *Series*, created by …, season 4, episode 5, Company, date. | ("Episode") | MLA n.d.-a | | Song | Performer. "Song." *Album*, Label, year. | (Performer) | MLA 2017b | | Bible | *The Bible*. Version, Publisher, year. | (*Bible Title*, Gen. 1.22) | MLA 2016b, 2018f | | Journal criticism | Critic. "Article." *Journal*, vol., no., year, pp., DOI. | (Critic page) | MLA 2018e | ## How do I cite a poem in MLA? Cite a poem by its line numbers when the edition prints them, and by nothing at all when it is short or unnumbered. The Modern Language Association (2016a) sets three cases: a short poem takes no number; a longer, line-numbered poem takes line numbers, not pages; a longer unnumbered poem takes pages in print and nothing online. ### Line numbers, and when to leave them out In the first citation write "line" or "lines", then numbers alone. Where books or cantos are numbered too, join the numbers with a full stop and no label: 9.19 is book 9, line 19. Quote lines out of order and the citation follows the order of your quotations, as in the MLA's Odyssey example, (lines 1, 3, and 2) (Modern Language Association, 2020b). The Modern Language Association (2020c) applies the no-number rule to poems on websites. ### A poem on a website or in an anthology Poetry Foundation prints Wilfred Owen's poem without line numbers, so the entry is: Owen, Wilfred. "Dulce et Decorum Est." *Poetry Foundation*, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46560/dulce-et-decorum-est. Accessed 27 Sept. 2026. In the text, (Owen) is enough. A poem in a printed anthology puts the anthology in italics after the poem's title, then "edited by", the publisher, the year and the page. Citing several sonnets from one sequence, the Modern Language Association (2018d) keeps one entry for the whole sequence and cites (sonnet 137, lines 1–2). ## How do I cite a play, including Shakespeare, in MLA? Cite a verse play by act, scene and line, joined by full stops. The Modern Language Association (2017a) keeps a play's title in italics even when it is printed inside a collected edition, such as *Macbeth* in *The Riverside Shakespeare*. ### Act, scene and line In the Folger text of *Hamlet*, "frailty, thy name is woman" is act 1, scene 2, line 150, so it is cited (Shakespeare 1.2.150), or (1.2.150) once the sentence names the play. ### Editions without line numbers An edition with no line numbers is cited by act and scene, with the page first if it helps: the Modern Language Association (2020a) quotes Duncan's line on "the mind's construction" as (54; 1.4) and adds a note explaining the method. An e-book numbered by paragraph takes "par." with the standard act, scene and lines in square brackets (Modern Language Association, 2018b). Line numbers belong to one edition, so the Works Cited entry must name the edition your numbers come from. ## How do I cite a novel in MLA, in the text and in Works Cited? Cite a novel by page, and add the chapter after a semicolon when readers may hold other editions: Purdue Online Writing Lab (n.d.) gives the form (page; ch. 1). The entry is the edition you read. Vintage's paperback of Toni Morrison's *Beloved* is dated 8 June 2004 by Penguin Random House (n.d.-a): Morrison, Toni. *Beloved*. Vintage International, 2004. Where you compare two editions, the Modern Language Association (2021) puts the other edition's year in brackets before the page, ([1879] 7), and keeps one entry for each edition. ## How do I cite a short story or essay in an anthology? Give the story in quotation marks as the source and the anthology in italics as its container, followed by "edited by", the publisher, the year and the page range. The Modern Language Association (2018a) cites an excerpt of De Quincey from *English Romantic Writers*, edited by David Perkins, pages 725 to 730, and lets you add where the piece first appeared at the end of the entry. ### When the whole book is one author's A collection by one writer can take a single entry for the book, and your page numbers lead to each piece. The Modern Language Association (2018c) does this with Walter Benjamin's *Reflections*; cite only one essay, and it gets its own entry, with "by Benjamin" after the collection's title. A play in a collection stays in italics; a story, poem or essay takes quotation marks. ## How do I cite an edition or a translation in MLA? Put the author first and the editor or translator after the title as "Edited by" or "Translated by". The Modern Language Association (2019a) gives Freud's *Civilization and Its Discontents*, "Edited and translated by James Strachey", and allows the translator first, labelled "editor and translator", when your essay is about the translation. ### Classical works in translation A classical epic is cited by book and line, not page (Modern Language Association, 2016a), and the entry still opens with the ancient author. The MLA's entry for Emily Wilson's translation is Homer. *The Odyssey*. Translated by Emily Wilson, W. W. Norton, 2018. ## How do I cite a film or a TV episode in MLA? Begin with the film's title in italics, then "Directed by", the production company and the year; add performers or the screenwriter only if your essay discusses them (Modern Language Association, n.d.-a). A 2025 post cites the adaptation of Henry James's *The Wings of the Dove* as (Modern Language Association, 2025a): *The Wings of the Dove*. Directed by Iain Softley, screenplay by Hossein Amini, Miramax, 1997. Dialogue takes a time stamp, (1:22:07–18), with speakers' names in capitals when set off (Modern Language Association, 2025b). A television episode takes quotation marks, then the series in italics, "created by", the season and episode, the company and the air date. ## How do I cite song lyrics in MLA? Cite the song: performer, song title in quotation marks, album in italics, label and year, with the streaming platform or website added as a second container. The Modern Language Association (2017b) cites lyrics transcribed on a website with a description, Lyrics to "Song", then the site, year and URL. A short quotation from a song is set out like poetry, with slashes between lines and four or more lines as a block (Modern Language Association, 2022). Quote only the few words your argument needs. ## How do I cite the Bible and other sacred texts in MLA? List the edition by its title in italics, with its version, publisher and year, and cite book, chapter and verse in the text. The Modern Language Association (2016b) gives *The Bible*. Authorized King James Version, Oxford UP, 1998. At the first citation, name the edition; after that, (Gen. 1.22) is Genesis, chapter 1, verse 22, and (Ps. 128.3) is from Psalms (Modern Language Association, 2018f). The Modern Language Association (2025a) says chapter 6 of the ninth edition covers scripture, and that "verse" may be spelled out once and then left implied. ## How do I cite literary criticism in MLA? Cite a critic's article like any journal article, and cite the version you read. The Modern Language Association (2019b) cites an essay found in a database in its anthologised form, with the database as a second container and the original journal as optional information. A novel's title inside an article's title stays in italics even when a database prints it plain (Modern Language Association, 2018e). ## Which EdCitation tools build and check a literature Works Cited? EdCitation's [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) is the right tool for a literature Works Cited because it finds each edition by ISBN and each article by DOI in the publisher's record, and never writes an entry from nothing, which no chatbot can promise. It sets MLA 9 or five other styles, screens for retraction, and is free with no account. A web page's details can be corrected before the entry is built. Its limit shows in literature: four of five book records dropped or mislabelled an editor or translator. The runs of 27 September 2026: 1. **Criticism, DOI 10.1353/mar.2016.0003.** Achebe, Chinua. “An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.” The Massachusetts Review, vol. 57, no. 1, 2016, pp. 14–27, https://doi.org/10.1353/mar.2016.0003. Right, except that *Heart of Darkness* needs italics inside the title. 2. **Folger *Hamlet*, ISBN 9780743477123.** Shakespeare, William. Hamlet. Washington Square Press, 2003. Folger Shakespeare Library. Simon & Schuster (n.d.) names the editors, Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine: add them, and take the publisher from your title page. 3. **Novel, ISBN 9781400033416.** Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Vintage International, 2025. The publisher's date is 2004. 4. **Penguin Classics, ISBN 9780141439518.** Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 3rd ed., Penguin Books, 2003. Penguin (n.d.) names Vivien Jones as editor; add her and check the copyright page. 5. **Anthology, ISBN 9780140589290.** Levin, Phillis. The Penguin Book of the Sonnet: 500 Years of a Classic Tradition in English. Penguin (Non-Classics), 2001. Levin is the editor (Penguin Random House, n.d.-b): write "Levin, Phillis, editor." and Penguin Books. 6. **Translation, ISBN 9780393089059.** Homer. The Odyssey. W. W. Norton, 2017. No translator: use the MLA's entry above, with Emily Wilson and the year from your copy. 7. **Poem pages.** Poetry Foundation's page gave "That page could not be read." Poets.org's gave Poets.org - Academy of American Poets. “Dulce et Decorum Est.” 2007, https://poets.org/poem/dulce-et-decorum-est. The page names the Academy as author, so correct the author to Owen before building. Every fault is visible, quick to fix and taken from the record, never invented. Page, line, and act, scene and line numbers are yours to add. Then paste the list into [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references), also free: each entry comes back verified, "check this" or not found, books missing from the publishers' index are checked against a library catalogue, and an entry that could not be checked is labelled that way, never as not found. Five corrected entries from this guide all came back verified. Read the match too: Wilson's *Odyssey* was verified against an Oxford edition of book 1, and the Owen page, pasted without "https://" as MLA prints it, was still checked at its address and verified. Upload the essay and every citation is matched to its entry. Pro, at $8 a month, adds References from a file and [Mechanics QA](https://edcitation.com/tools/mechanics-qa) ([pricing](https://edcitation.com/pricing)). EdCitation never writes any part of your essay. ## Quick questions ### How do I cite a poem in MLA in the text? Give the line numbers in brackets, with "line" or "lines" the first time only. A short poem, or one printed without line numbers, takes no number. ### How do I cite Shakespeare in MLA? List the edition you read under Shakespeare, with its editors, and cite act, scene and line: (1.2.150). EdCitation's [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite/mla) finds the edition by ISBN; add any editors the record leaves out. ### How do I cite a film in MLA? Start with the title in italics, then "Directed by", the company and the year. Quote dialogue with a time stamp, such as (1:22:07–18). ### Do I cite the translator of a novel in MLA? Yes. Put "Translated by" and the translator's name after the title, or the translator first, labelled, if your essay discusses the translation itself. ### How do I cite the Bible in MLA? Name the edition in italics in Works Cited, with its version, publisher and year. In the text, name that edition in the first citation, then give book, chapter and verse: (Gen. 1.22). ## References - Modern Language Association. (n.d.-a). *How to cite a movie, video, or television show*. MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/movies-videos-and-television-shows/](https://style.mla.org/works-cited/citations-by-format/movies-videos-and-television-shows/) - Modern Language Association. (n.d.-b). *What's new in the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook (spring 2021)*. MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/ninth-edition-whats-new/](https://style.mla.org/ninth-edition-whats-new/) - Modern Language Association. (2016a, February 29). *What kind of number do I put in the parenthetical citation for a poem?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/number-parenthetical-poem/](https://style.mla.org/number-parenthetical-poem/) - Modern Language Association. (2016b, June 16). *How do I cite scriptural writings? And when do I use italics in referring to them?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/scriptural-writings/](https://style.mla.org/scriptural-writings/) - Modern Language Association. (2017a, May 3). *If I'm citing an entire play reprinted in an anthology, does it appear in italics?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/play-in-anthology/](https://style.mla.org/play-in-anthology/) - Modern Language Association. (2017b, October 11). *How do I cite song lyrics?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/citing-song-lyrics/](https://style.mla.org/citing-song-lyrics/) - Modern Language Association. (2018a, February 1). *How do I cite an excerpt from an anthology?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/citing-excerpts-from-anthologies/](https://style.mla.org/citing-excerpts-from-anthologies/) - Modern Language Association. (2018b, May 3). *How should I cite an e-book version of Shakespeare's Hamlet that uses paragraph numbers instead of line numbers?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/paragraph-numbers-in-shakespeare/](https://style.mla.org/paragraph-numbers-in-shakespeare/) - Modern Language Association. (2018c, June 14). *Can I create a works-cited-list entry for an essay, poem, or story in a collection by one author?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/essay-poem-collection-one-author/](https://style.mla.org/essay-poem-collection-one-author/) - Modern Language Association. (2018d, August 30). *How do I cite more than one sonnet from a sequence of sonnets?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/citing-sonnets-from-a-sequence/](https://style.mla.org/citing-sonnets-from-a-sequence/) - Modern Language Association. (2018e, October 3). *If a book title within an essay title is not italicized in the source, should I italicize it in my works-cited-list entry?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/italics-quote-marks-book-titles/](https://style.mla.org/italics-quote-marks-book-titles/) - Modern Language Association. (2018f, November 28). *If I am citing an online version of a sacred text and each chapter is on a separate web page, must each web page be listed in the works-cited list?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/citing-web-pages-sacred-text/](https://style.mla.org/citing-web-pages-sacred-text/) - Modern Language Association. (2019a, January 7). *How do I indicate that the editor of a work is also its translator in my works-cited-list entry?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/edited-and-translated-by/](https://style.mla.org/edited-and-translated-by/) - Modern Language Association. (2019b, July 10). *How do I cite an essay from a database that was first published in a journal and later anthologized?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/journal-essay-anthology-database/](https://style.mla.org/journal-essay-anthology-database/) - Modern Language Association. (2020a, March 17). *If I am citing a commonly studied play that does not use line numbers, should I cite act and scene only?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/edition-without-line-numbers/](https://style.mla.org/edition-without-line-numbers/) - Modern Language Association. (2020b, March 31). *How do I cite nonconsecutive lines from a poem like Homer's The Odyssey?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/nonconsecutive-lines-homer-poems/](https://style.mla.org/nonconsecutive-lines-homer-poems/) - Modern Language Association. (2020c, December 15). *How do I cite an online poem with no line numbers?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/web-site-poem-no-line-numbers/](https://style.mla.org/web-site-poem-no-line-numbers/) - Modern Language Association. (2021, May 19). *If I cite one edition as my primary text, how do I cite another edition?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/citing-two-editions/](https://style.mla.org/citing-two-editions/) - Modern Language Association. (2022, August 24). *How do I format a quotation of song lyrics?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/formatting-song-lyrics/](https://style.mla.org/formatting-song-lyrics/) - Modern Language Association. (2025a, January 29). *How do I cite verse numbers in scripture?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/cite-verse-numbers-in-scripture/](https://style.mla.org/cite-verse-numbers-in-scripture/) - Modern Language Association. (2025b, May 7). *How do I quote dialogue in a film or TV show?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/quote-dialogue-film-tv/](https://style.mla.org/quote-dialogue-film-tv/) - Penguin. (n.d.). *Pride and prejudice* [Penguin Classics, edited by V. Jones]. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from [https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/33840/pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen/9780141439518](https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/33840/pride-and-prejudice-by-jane-austen/9780141439518) - Penguin Random House. (n.d.-a). *Beloved*. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/117513/beloved-by-toni-morrison/9781400033416/](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/117513/beloved-by-toni-morrison/9781400033416/) - Penguin Random House. (n.d.-b). *The Penguin book of the sonnet*. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/295838/the-penguin-book-of-the-sonnet-by-edited-by-phillis-levin-introduction-by-phillis-levin/9780140589290/](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/295838/the-penguin-book-of-the-sonnet-by-edited-by-phillis-levin-introduction-by-phillis-levin/9780140589290/) - Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). *MLA in-text citations: The basics*. Purdue University. [https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html](https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_in_text_citations_the_basics.html) - Simon & Schuster. (n.d.). *Hamlet* [Folger Shakespeare Library, edited by B. A. Mowat & P. Werstine]. Retrieved September 27, 2026, from [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Hamlet/William-Shakespeare/Folger-Shakespeare-Library/9780743477123](https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Hamlet/William-Shakespeare/Folger-Shakespeare-Library/9780743477123)