XCIV.  ROCK ME TO SLEEP.

Elizabeth Akers Allen (b. 1832,—­) was born at Strong, Maine, and passed her childhood amidst the picturesque scenery of that neighborhood.  She lost her mother when very young, but inherited her grace and delicacy of thought.  Shortly after her mother’s death, her father removed to Farmington, Maine, a town noted for its literary people.  Mrs. Allen’s early pieces appeared over the pseudonym of “Florence Percy.”  Her first verses appeared when she was twelve years old; and her first volume, entitled “Forest Buds from the Woods of Maine,” was Published in 1856.  For some years she was assistant editor of the “Portland Transcript.”  The following selection was claimed by five different persons, who attempted to steal the honor of its composition.

1.  Backward, turn backward, O Time, in your flight,
   Make me a child again, just for to-night! 
   Mother, come back from the echoless shore,
   Take me again to your heart as of yore;
   Kiss from my forehead the furrows of care,
   Smooth the few silver threads out of my hair;
   Over my slumbers your loving watch keep;—­
   Rock me to sleep, mother,—­rock me to sleep!

2.  Backward, flow backward, O tide of the years! 
   I am so weary of toil and of tears;
   Toil without recompense, tears all in vain;
   Take them, and give me my childhood again! 
   I have grown weary of dust and decay,—­
   Weary of flinging my soul wealth away;
   Weary of sowing for others to reap;—­
   Rock me to sleep, mother,—­rock me to sleep!

3.  Tired of the hollow, the base, the untrue,
   Mother, O mother, my heart calls for you! 
   Many a summer the grass has grown green,
   Blossomed and faded, our faces between: 
   Yet with strong yearning and passionate pain,
   Long I to-night for your presence again. 
   Come from the silence so long and so deep;—­
   Rock me to sleep, mother,—­rock me to sleep!

4.  Over my heart in the days that are flown,
   No love like mother love ever has shone;
   No other worship abides and endures,
   Faithful, unselfish, and patient like yours: 
   None like a mother can charm away pain
   From the sick soul, and the world-weary brain. 
   Slumber’s soft calms o’er my heavy lids creep;—­
   Rock me to sleep, mother,—­rock me to sleep!

5.  Come, let your brown hair, just lighted with gold,
   Fall on your shoulders again, as of old;
   Let it drop over my forehead to-night,
   Shading my faint eyes away from the light;
   For with its sunny-edged shadows once more,
   Haply will throng the sweet visions of yore;
   Lovingly, softly, its bright billows sweep;—­
   Rock me to sleep, mother,—­rock me to sleep!