How do I cite a tombstone or grave site that I looked at in person or online?

Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.

If you looked at a tombstone in person, you do not need to provide a citation. Use your prose or an endnote to describe what you saw and where you saw it. If you consult a website for information about a tombstone, provide a citation for the website. The following gives an example:

The epitaph on the grave of the poet John Keats reads in part, “Here lies one whose name was writ in water” (“John Keats”).

Work Cited

“John Keats.” Find a Grave, 2020, www.findagrave.com/memorial/566/john-keats.