“they made her a grave, too cold and damp for a soul so warm and true; and she’s gone to the lake of the dismal swamp, where, all night long, by a fire-fly lamp, she paddles her white canoe. “and her fire-fly lamp i soon shall see, and her paddle i soon shall hear; long and loving our life shall be, and i’ll hide the maid in a cypress tree, when the footstep of death is near.”

who is the speaker in this section of the poem?
a: the maiden paddling the canoe
b: the lover searching for his lost bride
c: an unknown observer of the incident
d: the hired paddler of the canoe