I saw a stable, low and very bare,
A little child in a manger.
The oxen knew Him, had Him in their care,
To men He was a stranger.
The safety of the world was lying there,
And the world’s danger.
I saw a stable, low and very bare
Summary
"I Saw a Stable, low and very bare" is a six-line nativity poem that captures the startling mystery of Christ's birth in a single, compressed vision. A lone speaker glimpses a bare stable where a child lies in a manger, tended by oxen yet unknown to humankind. Coleridge builds to a quietly stunning paradox: the one who holds the safety of the entire world sleeps exposed and unrecognised, the world's greatest hope and its greatest danger sharing the same breath.
