How do I cite an online poem with no line numbers?

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.

As the MLA Handbook notes, “When a source has no page numbers or any other kind of part number, no number should be given in a parenthetical citation. Do not count unnumbered paragraphs or other parts” (56). This guidance applies to poetry as well as prose. Thus, if you access a poem from a website, and the poem does not contain line numbers, do not include line numbers in your citation.

Read more on numbers in reference to poetry.

Work Cited

MLA Handbook. 8th ed., Modern Language Association of America, 2016.