Definition
Epigraph
An epigraph is a short quotation placed at the start of a book, part or chapter to set its tone. It is typically set smaller than body text, ranged left or centred, with the source beneath.
Typographically an epigraph should read as a different voice: smaller, often italic, indented from both margins, with generous space before the text begins. The trap is legal rather than visual — quoting a living author's lines, and song lyrics especially, needs permission, and lyrics are among the most aggressively licensed text there is. Public-domain sources avoid the problem entirely.
Related tools & guides
Front matter, chapter openers and scene breaks, set for you
Ceeryo generates the half-title, title and copyright pages, opens chapters on the right-hand page with the running head suppressed, and turns your blank lines and '* * *' into scene breaks — from the manuscript as you wrote it.