“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