“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?

the maiden paddling the canoe
the lover searching for his lost bride
an unknown observer of the incident
the hired paddler of the canoe
mark this and return