Mapping Indigenous Poetry of North America, 1830-1924

"Fire-Flowers" by E. Pauline Johnson

And only where the forest fires have sped,
Scorching relentlessly the cool north lands, 
A sweet wild flower lifts its purple head,
And, like some gentle spirit sorrow-fed,
It hides the scars with almost human hands. 

And only to the heart that knows of grief,
Of desolating fire, of human pain, 
There comes some purifying sweet belief,
 Some fellow-feeling beautiful, if brief. 
And life revives, and blossoms once again. 

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