35. Prose Excerpts, Quotes and Verses

Prose excerpts, quotes and verses share the same syntax structure, including:

  • block name, either quote or verse

  • name of who the content is attributed to

  • bibliographical information of the book, speech, play, poem, etc., where the content was drawn from

  • excerpt text

35.1. Quote

For content that doesn’t require the preservation of line breaks, set the quote attribute in the first position of the attribute list. Next, set the attribution and relevant citation information. However, these positional attributes are optional.

Anatomy of a basic quote
[quote, attribution, citation title and information]
Quote or excerpt text

If the quote is a single line or paragraph, you can place the attribute list directly on top of the text.

Quote paragraph syntax
.After landing the cloaked Klingon bird of prey in Golden Gate park: (1)
[quote, Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home]   (2) (3) (4)
Everybody remember where we parked. (5)
1 Mark lead-in text explaining the context or setting of the quote using a period (.). (optional)
2 For content that doesn’t require the preservation of line breaks, set quote in the first position of the attribute list.
3 The second position contains who the excerpt is attributed to. (optional)
4 Enter additional citation information in the third position. (optional)
5 Enter the excerpt or quote text on the line immediately following the attribute list.
Result: Quote paragraph
After landing the cloaked Klingon bird of prey in Golden Gate park:
Everybody remember where we parked.
— Captain James T. Kirk
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

If the quote or excerpt is more than one paragraph, place the text between delimiter lines consisting of four underscores (____).

Quote block syntax
[quote, Monty Python and the Holy Grail]
____
Dennis: Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help! Help! I'm being repressed!

King Arthur: Bloody peasant!

Dennis: Oh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, Didn't you?
____
Result: Quote block

Dennis: Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Help! Help! I’m being repressed!

King Arthur: Bloody peasant!

Dennis: Oh, what a giveaway! Did you hear that? Did you hear that, eh? That’s what I’m on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw him, Didn’t you?

— Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Asciidoctor also provides three alternative ways to markup quotes and prose excerpts.

35.1.1. Quoted paragraph

You can turn a single paragraph into a blockquote by:

  1. surrounding it with double quotes

  2. adding an optional attribution (prefixed with two dashes) below the quoted text

Quoted paragraph syntax
"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing,
and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical."
-- Thomas Jefferson, Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Volume 11
Result: Quoted paragraph
I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.
— Thomas Jefferson
Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Volume 11

35.1.2. Markdown-style blockquotes

Asciidoctor supports Markdown-style blockquotes.

Markdown-style blockquote syntax
> I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing,
> and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.
> -- Thomas Jefferson, Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Volume 11
Result: Markdown-style blockquote

I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.

— Thomas Jefferson
Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Volume 11

Like Markdown, Asciidoctor supports block content inside the blockquote, including nested blockquotes.

Markdown-style blockquote containing block content
> > What's new?
>
> I've got Markdown in my AsciiDoc!
>
> > Like what?
>
> * Blockquotes
> * Headings
> * Fenced code blocks
>
> > Is there more?
>
> Yep. AsciiDoc and Markdown share a lot of common syntax already.

Here’s how this conversation renders.

Result: Markdown-style blockquote with block content

What’s new?

I’ve got Markdown in my AsciiDoc!

Like what?

  • Blockquotes

  • Headings

  • Fenced code blocks

Is there more?

Yep. AsciiDoc and Markdown share a lot of common syntax already.

35.2. Verse

When you need to preserve indents and line breaks, use the verse block name. Verses are defined by setting verse on a paragraph or an excerpt block delimited by four underscores (____).

Verse paragraph syntax
[verse, Carl Sandburg, two lines from the poem Fog]
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
Result: Verse paragraph
The fog comes
on little cat feet.
— Carl Sandburg
two lines from the poem Fog

When the verse content includes blank or indented lines, enclose it in an excerpt block.

Verse delimited block syntax
[verse, Carl Sandburg, Fog]
____
The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
____
Result: verse block
The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking
over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.
— Carl Sandburg
Fog