Virtue

ˈvərCHo͞o

noun – (in traditional Christian angelology) the seventh-highest order of the ninefold celestial hierarchy.
noun – behaviour showing high moral standards.

i take the high ground

i take the high ground 
because if i do not the 
high ground will take me

encourage the good
and if you will not then just
pass him in silence

let the highest good
rise to that height from whence no
force can dislodge it

too much pleasure is
hurtful but with virtue we
need fear no excess

nothing other than
the honorable can form
a part of honor

my animal mind
squanders high virtue as a
handmaid to pleasure

when virtue leads me
then i master my pleasures
else i am enslaved

modesty perished
when shameful idleness was
dignified instead

if i die today
let me die a better man
than yesterday me