Writers Plus+ Forum Quick Question

Okay, I got this sudden inspiration from a daydream I had, and I'm writing it and decided the character is reading, so I'm adding in pieces of a poem that i recently read. Now heres the question: is it okay to quote the poem if I'm not doing it in the order that it was written? Like theres part of the poem that i think would fit near the end of what i'm writing.... i guess I'm fitting the poem to what I'm writing... thats not wrong is it?
(did any of that make sense?)
thanks for any feedback.
-Justine

My experience is in music, but publishing copyrights generally work the same. If you are using a large proportion of the poem, you will need permission from the author/copyright-holder, assuming the work is still in copyright. A few lines quoted shouldn't be a problem, unless you are expecting to earn loads of money on it. Even so, it might still be considered "fair use." That's if you wish to post or publish it. If you are keeping it for the privacy of your own home, it doesn't matter what you do. It's always best to get written permission BEFORE you use it, otherwise you may have to chuck it all in the end.

If the poem is published, the publisher may also request a fee. In any case you will need to decide how you are using it and if it is divided up, you will need to get permission to present it that way. Some authors/estates are very particular about how things are presented. (My wife used to work for one such estate.)

In any case, you should fully credit the author, either in a blanket footnote, or each time it appears. You should see A.S.Byatt's Possession to see how she deals with presenting poetry within her work. In this case it was her own poetry, so the attribution was fictitious, and fictitiously out of copyright. You would probably need to make it clear in your acknowledgments that it is a real author and a single work. The publisher will probably give you the exact wording and format that they want to see.

The rule however is to never expect that you will get permission. Get it first.