Cento Collage-poem
A cento is a collage-poem composed of lines lifted from other sources —
often, though not always, from great poets of the past. In Latin the word cento
means ‘‘patchwork,’’ and the verse form resembles a quilt of discrete lines
stitched together to make a whole. The word cento is also Italian for ‘‘one hundred,’’
and some mosaic poems consist of exactly 100 lines culled by one poet
from the work of another to pay tribute to him or her.
From These Fragments I Have Sewn
By David Lehman
NYTimes Book Review April 2, 2006