Answer: a. dying.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the first six lines of this poem by John Donne, the speaker is talking to his lover. He likens their separation to that of virtuous men dying and remarks on how they do not make a show of it but rather accept it.
He believes that they should behave in the same way as they part ways with each other with neither noise nor too much crying which he believes would desecrate the dignity of their love.