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How to quote multiple lines of verse inline

If I am using a quote that is only one line, I would not need a / between lines. But, when do I use a / - for free verse or blank verse? I'm a bit confused.


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marked as duplicate by Matt Эллен, Robusto, FumbleFingers, jwpat7, Mahnax Mar 5 '12 at 3:52


literature.stackexchange.com might be more the place you want. –  Matt Эллен Mar 4 '12 at 21:26

2 Answers 2

The divider is precisely to indicate the end of a line when it may not be obvious; so for unrhymed verse it is, if anything, more necessary. As an example, Shakespeare reminds us that "... set my teeth on edge/ Nothing so much as mincing poetry".

This assumes, of course, that you are making only a passing allusion. If the quotation is an important part of your argument, it's almost certainly worth blockquoting:

Mediocritas esse poetis
Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae

('Not men, or gods, or even booksellers/ Put up with mediocre verse'; I'm sorry I couldn't find an apposite English tag that starts in the middle of a line.)

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I'm having trouble thinking of anything in one of his plays that I would consider free verse. If you are referring to the small bits of prose he sometimes mixed in, you would not use the "/" at all. Simply format the quote like you would any other bit of prose. In other words, if there are no hard returns at the end of each line, don't include a line break "/" in the quote.

To sum up, for MLA, use the "/":

  • When you are quoting 2 or 3 lines of verse
  • At the end of each line
  • No more than 2 times (since using it a third would mean separating 4 lines, requiring a block)
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