The Mystery Poem by A. P. Herbert

I seldom hear a thoughtful Briton speak
But he will start complaining of the State:
'The State is brutal, and the State is weak',
'The State is daft, the State is out of date';
'The State is mean, the State is anti-joy',
'The State is inefficient and unfair';
'The State behaves to chaps in its employ
As private firms would not desire-or dare'.
Yet England longs, the same wise people sing,
To see the State run every blessed thing.
March 12,1944