Elizabeth Akers Allen

Elizabeth Akers Allen (1832–1911) was an American poet and journalist, widely known for the sentimental poem “Rock Me to Sleep, Mother,” which also circulated under her maiden name, Elizabeth Akers. Born in Strong, Maine, she began publishing verse while young and later wrote for newspapers and magazines. Her work often blended lyric feeling with themes of memory, loss, and domestic life, reflecting popular tastes of the mid-19th century. She married Marshall S. Taylor and later the journalist E. P. Allen. Akers Allen lived for periods in the United States and abroad, and she died in Tarrytown, New York.