About
The Form
Cento: a poem formed of lines from existing works.
The word “cento” is Latin for “patchwork”.
The earliest known centos are from late antiquity. Classical & Renaissance centos generally use lines from Virgil or Homer. Modern centos often use lines from multiple poets, but vary in source material, citation style, and theme.
Examples
Classical Antiquity
- Faltonia Betitia Proba. Cento Vergilianus de Laudibus Christi. 4th century.
- Hosidius Geta. Medea. 462.
- Aelia Eudocia. Homeric Centos. 5th century.
Renaissance
- Justus Lipsius. Politicorum Libri Sex. 1589.
- Etienne de Pleure. Sacra Aeneis. 1618.
- Alexander Ross. Vergili Evangelisantis Christiados. 1634.
Modern
- John Ashbery. “To a Waterfowl.” Locus Solus. Volume 1, Issue 2. 1961.
- John Ashbery. “The Dong with the Luminous Nose.” Wakefulness. 1998.
- Peter Gizzi. Ode: Salute to the New York School, 1950-1970. Letter Machine Editions. 2012.
- Simone Muench. Wolf Centos. Sarabande. 2014.
- Erin Murphey. Fields of Ache. Ghost City Press. 2022.
Online
- Simone Muench. “Wolf Cento.” Academy of American Poets. 2011.
- Mary Dalton. “Invitation Cards.” The Malahat Review. Autumn 2012.
- Stephanie Young. “Cento For Love.” Poetry Foundation. April 3, 2014.
- Emily Berry. “Freud’s War.” Poetry Foundation. June 2015.
- Kate Daniels. “She-Poets Cento.” Plume. August 2015.
- George McKim. “Cento – farewell, my kin, my mother’s children.” The Ilanot Review. Winter 2016.
- Sarah Gambito. “Cento.” American Poetry Review. May/June 2016.
- Nicole Sealey. “Cento for the Night I Said, ‘I Love You’.” PEN America. August 29, 2017.
- Linda Bierds. “Lepidopteran.” Poetry Magazine. 2017.
- Erin Murphey. “Your Mother’s Maiden Name is Not a Secret.” Jet Fuel Review. Spring 2018.
- Cameron Awkward-Rich. “Cento between the Ending and the End.” Academy of American Poets. August 30, 2018.
- Jamila Woods. “On Naming Yourself (A Cento).” Poetry Foundation. 2022.
Anthologies
- The Cento: a Collection of Collage Poems. Edited by Theresa Malphrus Welford. Red Hen Press. 2011.