Allen, Elizabeth Anne Chase Akers

Allen, Elizabeth Anne Chase Akers

▪ American journalist and poet
née  Elizabeth Anne Chase 
born Oct. 9, 1832, Strong, Maine, U.S.
died Aug. 7, 1911, Tuckahoe, N.Y.

      American journalist and poet, remembered chiefly for her sentimental poem “Rock Me to Sleep,” which found especial popularity during the Civil War.

      Elizabeth Chase grew up in Farmington, Maine, where she attended Farmington Academy (later Maine State Teachers College). She is said to have had a poem published in the Boston Olive Branch at 15. In 1851 she married Marshall S.M. Taylor, but within a few years they were divorced. She took a job on the Portland (Maine) Transcript in 1855 and the next year published her first book of poetry, Forest Buds from the Woods of Maine, under the pseudonym Florence Percy. On the proceeds of that venture she traveled in Europe in 1859–60. During that journey she served as a correspondent for the Transcript and for the Boston Evening Gazette. From Rome she dispatched to the Saturday Evening Post of Philadelphia the poem entitled “Rock Me to Sleep,” whose opening lines—“Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight, / And make me a child again, just for to-night!”—became universally familiar. That poem remained by far her best known, although she published much superior verse, frequently in the Atlantic Monthly.

      In August 1860 she married Benjamin Paul Akers, a Maine sculptor whom she had met in Rome; he died the next year. In 1863–65 she worked as a government clerk in Washington, D.C., and in 1865 she married Elijah M. Allen. A collection of her poetry, entitled simply Poems (1866), was published under the name Elizabeth Akers. The volume included “Rock Me to Sleep,” and a controversy ensued with Alexander M.W. Ball of New Jersey, who for some years claimed authorship of the poem. After several years' residence in Richmond, Virginia, she returned to Portland in 1874 and for seven years was literary editor of the Daily Advertiser. After 1881 she and her husband lived in Tuckahoe. Later collections of her verse include Queen Catherine's Rose (1885), The High-Top Sweeting (1891), and The Ballad of the Bronx (1901).

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Elizabeth Chase Allen — Elizabeth Chase Akers Allen (October 9, 1832, Strong, Maine August 7, 1911, Tuckahoe, New York) was an American author, journalist and poet. Born Elizabeth Anne Chase , she grew up in Farmington, Maine, where she attended Farmington Academy. She… …   Wikipedia

  • Benjamin Paul Akers — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Benjamin Paul Akers Retrato del escultor Nombre real Benjamin Paul Akers Nacimiento 10 de julio de 1825 Westbrook, Maine …   Wikipedia Español

  • Benjamin Paul Akers — (July 10 1825 May 21 1861) was an able American sculptor.Born in Westbrook, Maine in 1825, at the age of 30 he went to Rome in 1855, where he worked for several years. Among his works are busts of Edward Everett and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a… …   Wikipedia

  • Nom De Scène — Un nom de scène est un pseudonyme utilisé par les acteurs, comédiens, musiciens et autres célébrités. Sommaire : Haut A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nom artistique — Nom de scène Un nom de scène est un pseudonyme utilisé par les acteurs, comédiens, musiciens et autres célébrités. Sommaire : Haut A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Nom de scene — Nom de scène Un nom de scène est un pseudonyme utilisé par les acteurs, comédiens, musiciens et autres célébrités. Sommaire : Haut A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Vrai nom — Nom de scène Un nom de scène est un pseudonyme utilisé par les acteurs, comédiens, musiciens et autres célébrités. Sommaire : Haut A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Liste de noms de scène — Un nom de scène est un pseudonyme utilisé par les acteurs, musiciens et artistes de spectacle. Cet article présente une liste de noms de scène. Sommaire : Haut A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of stage names — This list of stage names lists performers alphabetically according to surname (assumed or genuine) and their nickname. Individuals who have dropped their last name and substituted their middle name as their last name are listed. Also listed are… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste von Pseudonymen — Hier ist eine Liste bekannter Pseudonyme. Inhalt und Konventionen Die Liste soll alphabetisch nach den Pseudonymen sortiert sein. Die Einträge sollen formatiert sein, um Übersichtlichkeit zu gewährleisten. Namensverkürzungen (z. B. Rudi… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”