Greatness in a lost battle

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It was a lost battle from the very start,
Lost before the battle had started,
Lost before he had entered the field,
Lost even before he was aware it was a battle.

Yet the the thought of deserting the field,
Never crossed his naive mind;
He gave in his best, aware of failure,
Aware of ignominy, aware of the fringe,
This battlefield would consign him to.

Yet he achieved what nobody else did:
Respect of the enemy, admiration of friends;
And above all, they realised the reason for his struggle...

And despite all, he remained blissfully naive,
Therein lied his superlative greatness.