No Surrender

I want so to surrender
To surrender myself now
But my enemy has fled
There's none to whom to bow

So I must bow to strangers
And passers on the street
And all the world is weary
Of my absolute defeat.

No one knows the glory
Of the battles that were fought
No one knows the losses
In accepting what is not.

No honour for the veterans
In parade along the street
They stand alone in archways;
stare numb at shuffling feet.