“If you are tempted to reveal
A tale some one to you has told
About another—let it pass,
Before you speak, three gates of gold.
“Three narrow gates—first, Is it true?
Then, Is it needful? In your mind
Give truthful answer. And the next
Is last and narrowest, Is it kind?
“And if to reach your lips at last,
It passes through these gateways three,
Then you may tell the tale, nor fear
What the result of speech may be.”[1]
[1] This
poem was written by Beth Day in 1855, and is said to be “after the
Arabian.”
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