Read the poem and answer the question that follow:

Beside the ungathered rice he lay,
His sickle in his hand;
His breast was bare, his matted hair
Was buried in the sand.
Again, in the mist and shadow of sleep.
He saw his Native Land.

Wide through the landscape of his dreams
The lordly Niger flowed;
Beneath the palm-trees on the plain
Once more a king he strode:
And heard the tinkling caravans
Descend the mountain-road.

He saw once more his dark-eyed queen
Among her children stand;
They clasped his neck, they kissed his cheeks,
They held him by the hand!-
A tear burst from the sleeper's lids
And fell into the sand.

And then at furious speed he rode
Along the Niger's bank;
His bridle-reins were golden chains.
And, with a martial clank,
At each leap he could feel his scabbard of steel
Smiting his stallion's flank.
Before him, like a blood-red flag.
The bright flamingoes flew
From morn till night he followed their flight,
O'er plains where the tamarind grew,
Till he saw the roofs of Caffre huts,
And the oceans rose to view.

The poem shows a contrast between:

the man's past and present life

The correct answer is Option (1) → the man's past and present life

The entire poem is built on the stark contrast between the man's current reality and his dreams, which represent his past life:

• Present Life (Reality): The first stanza shows him as an exhausted laborer ("Beside the ungathered rice he lay, / His sickle in his hand"), likely in poverty or bondage, sleeping on the sand.

• Past Life (Dream): The rest of the poem shows him as a king in his Native Land ("lordly Niger flowed," "Once more a king he strode," "His bridle-reins were golden chains").

This juxtaposition of the sleeper's humble, painful reality and his magnificent, powerful past is the central theme and contrast of the poem.