Derzhavin is a river of times in its aspiration. A brief analysis of the river of times in its aspiration: meaning, main idea, image of world history (Derzhavin G.R.). Analysis of Derzhavin’s poem “The River of Times in its Aspiration...”

“The river of times in its aspiration...” Gabriel Derzhavin

The river of times in its rush
Takes away all people's affairs
And drowns in the abyss of oblivion
Nations, kingdoms and kings.
And if anything remains
Through the sounds of the lyre and trumpet,
Then it will be devoured by the mouth of eternity
And the common fate will not go away.

Analysis of Derzhavin’s poem “The River of Times in its Aspiration...”

“The River of Times in its Aspiration...” was written by Gavriil Romanovich Derzhavin (1743 – 1816) on July 6, 1816, that is, literally before the poet’s death. This poem is a rebus, the first letters of the lines form the expression “Honor the ruin.” This technique is called acrostic. Perhaps the phrase would have been continued, since it is known that the two stanzas that made up this work were the beginning of the poem “On Perishability.” However, the reader will never be able to find out what the author really intended.

In the magazine “Son of the Fatherland” in issue No. 10 for 1816, “The River of Times in its Aspiration...” was published under the title “Derzhavin’s Last Poems.” The note accompanying the text of the poem included a mention of how the lines were found. The author of the article reported that, due to his habit of writing down a draft version with chalk on a slate board, Derzhavin did the same with this work. Therefore, unfortunately, it will not be possible to find any diaries or notebooks containing the poet’s sketches.

The theme of the smooth but inexorable passage of time is often found in the works of Gabriel Romanovich. The reader can trace the development of this idea in the ode “”, “Monument”, “” and in other works. The idea of ​​the inevitability of death is also connected with it. These thoughts have already been revealed by the poet in the poems “Cloud”, “Time”, etc. But in “River of Times...” this motive sounds especially menacing.

Let us pay attention to the images that the poet uses in the eight-line. Comparing time with flowing water, the author emphasizes its strength and irreversibility. “The river does not flow backward”, “water wears away stones” - such sayings about the power of a water flow immediately come to mind. Derzhavin’s element of water is not creative good energy, but taking away, indifferent:
Takes away all people's affairs
And drowns in the abyss of oblivion
Nations, kingdoms and kings.

The way water behaves in the poem is reminiscent of Lethe, the river of oblivion that flows according to ancient Greek myths, in the kingdom of death.

There are other images that speak of destruction. “The abyss”, the dull empty “eternity” - all this will be destroyed. It is not for nothing that the first word “ruin”, formed by the lines, also indicates death.

In anticipation of his death, Gabriel Romanovich even questions the hope of immortality in his creations, which he sang in “”:
And if anything remains
Through the sounds of the lyre and trumpet,
Then it will be devoured by the mouth of eternity
And the common fate will not go away.

This work, filled with gloomy fatalism, makes a painful impression. Unlike other verses, it does not contain a lesson, instruction or consolation. It is difficult to imagine in what situation one can turn to these lines, but they help to understand the state and feelings of the poet in his fateful hour.

You can listen to an audio recording of the poem “The River of Times in its Aspiration...”. The text is read by Honored Artist of Russia Alexander Dmitrievich Fedorov.

We have come to the last page of Derzhavin’s work. Already a very old man, a few weeks before his death, he wrote his last poem. It is short, only eight lines:

The river of times in its rush carries away all the affairs of people and drowns peoples, kingdoms and kings into the abyss of oblivion. And if anything remains Through the sounds of the lyre and trumpet, It will be devoured by the mouth of eternity And the common fate will not leave!

The poet went into Eternity. And he looked into it philosophically calmly, sadly and wisely. No one has the power to escape the mighty flow of time. We all living on earth are united by this stream that is rapidly carrying us away. And yet, there is still hope that something remains from each generation of people, remains “through the sounds of the lyre and trumpet.” Otherwise, the connection between times would be broken. And Derzhavin’s symbolic image of the “river of times” would not have sounded with such authentic force and would not have remained in our memory for a long time.

Literature

1. Derzhavin G.R. Essays with explanatory notes by Y.K. Grotto: In 9 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1864-1884.
2. Derzhavin G.R. Poems. L., 1933.
3. Derzhavin G.R. Poems. L., 1947.
4. Derzhavin G.R. Essays. M., 1985.
5. Belinsky V.G. Works of Derzhavin // Belinsky V.G. Collection cit.: In 3 vols. M., 1948. T. 2.
6. Gukovsky G.A. Russian poetry of the 18th century. L., 1927.
7. Zapadov V.A. Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin. M.; L., 1965.
8. Serman I.Z. Russian poetry of the second half of the 18th century. Derzhavin // History of Russian poetry: In 2 vols. L., 1968. T. 1.
9. Zapadov A.V. Poets of the 18th century (M.V. Lomonosov, G.R. Derzhavin). M., 1979.
10. Dictionary of literary terms. M., 1974.
11. Dal V.I. Dictionary living Great Russian language: In 4 vols. M., 1979-1980.
12. Literary encyclopedia of terms and concepts. M., 2001.

Read also other topics in Chapter VI:

“The River of Times in Its Aspiration” is a poem by Derzhavin, which was written on July 6, 1816. Three days later the poet died. This is only part of the work, since the author did not finish it.

The recording was discovered on the board where the poet wrote drafts. He created the passage while looking at the painting “River of Times.” It was historical in nature and it was an image world history.

The poet's poem shows the power of time. It is so fleeting that no one can resist. Kings and kingdoms, entire peoples and nations bow before time. Everything plunges into the abyss of oblivion. No matter how many achievements there are, how much is done, everything will eventually be lost.

The meaning of the work is that you need to value time, and the main idea of ​​the verse is that world history is constantly repeating itself.

Again and again new eras come, new kingdoms that make the same mistakes. This cycle will be eternal, so we can only put up with it.

The full poem was supposed to be called “On Perishability,” but since it was not written in full, the passage was named after the first line.

River of times. July 20, 2016 marks exactly 200 years since the day Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin passed away into eternity

Text: Arseny Zamostyanov
Collage Year of Literature.RF

We remember Gabriel Romanovich Derzhavin most often thanks to Pushkin’s not too respectful, although certainly benevolent lines about the old man who blessed him as he went to his grave. Meanwhile, before his meeting with the young genius at the Lyceum in 1815, which went down in history, the 72-year-old (at that time) poet and statesman managed to gain lasting fame and admiration for himself - both from his contemporaries and descendants.
Arseniy Zamostyanov, a poet who defended a dissertation on Derzhavin’s work and wrote a book about him ZhZL, talks about this “Year of Literature”, and since last year has been the editor-compiler of Derzhavin’s 10-volume book published by the publishing house “Narodnoye Obrazovanie”. It’s hard to believe, but this is the first multi-volume collection of Derzhavin’s works since the 19th century (it was published quite well in the Soviet years, but in single volumes). The first five volumes have already been published, the sixth volume is in the printing house.

The river of times in its rush
Takes away all people's affairs
And drowns in the abyss of oblivion
Nations, kingdoms and kings...
This is how the poem begins, which Gavriil Romanovich wrote on a slate board in his bedroom three days before his death. Having written eight lines, the poet did not have time to finish it. And this is symbolic: the “river of times” of Gabriel Derzhavin flows into eternity.

In the role of the river of times - of course, Volkhov. A better candidate cannot be found. The last river in the life of the actual privy councilor and holder of many orders, retired minister of justice Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin. He was born on Kazan soil, was interested in Bulgar and Horde antiquities, but fell in love with the North. I fell in love with the region, which is reasonably considered the cradle of Russian statehood. He settled on Novgorod land, better days He spent his retired life on Zvanka - in an estate on the banks of the Volkhov. He died there two hundred years ago. According to leaf calendars, this is a significant date.

I immediately remember 1937, the 100th anniversary of the duel and death of Pushkin, which turned into the largest multi-part literary festival. I had to hear that this was the diabolical plan of Stalin, who hated humanity so much that he celebrated the date of Pushkin’s assassination. Well, Stalin, as we know, is responsible for everything. But in this case, he only took advantage of an ancient tradition. The date of birth of our distant ancestors was not of interest. They often could not even accurately name the year of their own birth. And not unknown peasants, but aristocrats such as, for example, the Suvorovs. And the death of an outstanding person is always an event of national significance. It's memorable. This is truly a milestone in history. Therefore, twenty-five years since Derzhavin’s death, and fifty years in the literary world did not pass without a trace.
Derzhavin's death became... We have before us that rare case when the poet’s last poem is known to all initiates, although Gavrila Romanovich was not a suicide and died at an old age, in retirement, in his own estate:

I was a servant of Mars, Themis,
And now a retired poet...
In Derzhavin’s Zvan office there hung a table map, famous in those days. "The River of Times, or an Emblematic Image of World History from Ancient Times to the End of the Eighth Century". This map was compiled by the German scientist Frederick Strass. He schematically depicted the history of civilizations in the form of river flows. Derzhavin peered at this new product and indulged in thought...

The retired Privy Councilor remained an amazing poet in his old age.

The history of Russian poetry is rich - the spring has been flowing for three and a half centuries. But which of the sixty-year-old and seventy-year-old poets can compare with Derzhavin? And his last poem - unfinished, perhaps a rough draft - cannot be deleted from any Russian anthology.

I am old and young in spirit due to my sins...

The river of times... The mysterious eight-line is perhaps the beginning of the lengthy ode “On Corruption” conceived by Derzhavin. Although the first lines written do not always become the beginning of a poem. Derzhavin’s poetry contains many optimistic assessments of his own posthumous fate: “And I drink and will not die.” Not without reason, he hoped to remain on earth and serve for the good of justice. And then suddenly he fell into sadness, almost reaching black despondency. It is easiest to assume that in the following stanzas the poet would formulate the antithesis of despondency, turn to the Almighty and console himself in prayer. But the ode is called “On Corruption” - and only God knows where this topic would have led Derzhavin. In his old age, he again turned to spiritual lyrics - and even during the days of the war with foreign invaders he worked on the lengthy ode “Christ”. Russian regiments fought in France, the driven Napoleon fought with his last strength, throwing boys into battle. Then the winners - monarchs and diplomats - decided the future of humanity in the Austrian capital. It would seem that Derzhavin should have delved deeper into the weaving of political calculations, but he wrote:

Who are you? And how to portray
Your greatness and insignificance,
Corruption agrees with corruption,
Merging possibility with impossibility?
You are God - but You suffered from torment!
You are a man - but you were alien to revenge!
You are mortal - but you have worn out the scepter of death!
You are eternal, but Your spirit is gone!
The result was a huge theological ode about Christ, an excited reflection on the God-man, written at the limit of his waning strength. And now - the river of times in its aspiration...
This stream devours everything - both bad and good. And Napoleon and Suvorov. Batyev and Maratov - and the Great Martyrs. An eternal mill - like those that can be found in Zvanka and in Arakcheevo Gruzin.

Everything passes, “everything will be devoured by the mouth of eternity”, but are our efforts in vain? Optimists and lovers of life often fall into misanthropy in their old age. Is it really Derzhavin?

An unfinished sketch - or a polished fresco? Derzhavin skeptically assessed his capabilities in a short poetic form. Epigrams, inscriptions - how strong Sumarokov was in these laconic genres! Perhaps Derzhavin underestimated himself: “For the bird,” the inscriptions to the portrait of Lomonosov and the character of Emperor Paul - aren’t these victories for the poet?
And the eight lines of the unwritten ode “On Perishability” made up a mysterious but complete poem. By and large, a continuation was not required. And the comforting antithesis, even if implied, remains in the subtext.
Eight lines - and not a single random or dubious word. “Sounds of the lyre and trumpet” - is it really possible to define Derzhavin’s poetry, and the poetry of the 18th century in general, more clearly and clearly? The trumpet is a Homeric line, heroics. Lyra is Derzhavin's anacreontics and his philosophical reflections in verse. The very concept of “River of Times” is connected, as was often the case with Derzhavin, with a visible object. In 1816, these eight lines were published in the magazine “Son of the Fatherland.” First publication! There was also a short note: “Three days before his death, looking at the famous historical map “River of Times” hanging in his office, he began the poem “On Perishability” and managed to write the first verse.”
Which route did the old poet intend to take the ship of the philosophical ode?

This secret will never be revealed. The poet died.

There are eight lines left on the slate - no more, no less. And no consolation. “Everything will be devoured by the mouth of eternity”. And this is the life-loving, full-blooded Derzhavin. Not even warm, but hot in any poem, in any remark. This is probably for the better - the poem has become more bitter, stronger, there is not a single extra, random word in it. We know these eight lines by heart. And Murza already has a lot of life-affirming lines (Derzhavin loved to call himself this Tatar title) ...
One may get a deceptive impression: what if Derzhavin, at the end of his days, became disillusioned and fell into despondency, so unusual for him in his mature years? This happens with strong people: losing health, they indulge in panic and turn sour. But this is not about Derzhavin!

In his old age, despite his illnesses, he wrote perhaps the best poems - at least these last eight lines...

He always lived with new poems, happy moments when you feel the power over the word, when flight takes your breath away - and inspiration (let's call it that) did not leave him until the end.
After the capture of Paris, Derzhavin decided to write a word of praise to Emperor Alexander. In the summer of 1814, he asked his niece, Praskovya Nikolaevna Lvova, to read aloud panegyrics to various people. historical figures. Some of them made him sleepy, but the old man liked Antoine Thomas’s words of praise to Marcus Aurelius. But in the end Derzhavin interrupted the reading: “I’ve written a lot in my time, but now I’m old. My literary career is over, now let the young people sing!”. The following entry was also preserved in his archive:

And yet he wrote even in last summer- and how he wrote! And Zvanskaya’s life dragged on slowly. Only childless old people fall in love with dogs as much as Derzhavin does with his Taika. He always wore it in his bosom, stroking it... We know about those days from the notes of Praskovya Lvova.

I’m standing bowing my forehead...

One damp evening, while playing solitaire, he felt sick, he doubled over and began rubbing his chest. The doctor was called. Derzhavin groaned and even screamed in pain. But he still fell asleep in the office, on the sofa. When I woke up, I felt happier. They tried to persuade him to go to St. Petersburg to see the doctors - the old man just chuckled. Jokes, cards, readings of Voltaire began again... A few days later, on July 8, at breakfast he announced: “Thank God, I feel better.” Tame birds flew around the room, amusing him. I had to give up lunch: doctors recommended abstinence from food. But for dinner he ordered fish soup - and ate three plates. It was then that he felt ill. The doctor prescribed sage, Lvova advised drinking tea with rum. “Oh, it’s hard! Oh, it's sickening. Lord, help me, a sinner... I didn’t know it would be so hard. That's how it should be. That's how it should be. God help me…"
Late in the evening the pain dulled. He asked everyone for forgiveness for the disturbance: “Without me they would have slept long ago.” And he gave his word to Daria the next morning to go to St. Petersburg. And suddenly he stood up a little, took a deep breath - and everything became quiet. The doctor looked at Lvova in confusion. The room was filled with women's sobs. July 8th is the 20th according to the new style.

On the slate board there were eight lines written in chalk - the same ones.
His body was covered with simple muslin to ward off flies. The neighbor - Tyrkov - kept babbling: “We need to tell the sovereign. The Emperor loved him so much, he will certainly want to say goodbye.” The emperor was indeed nearby - in Gruzin near Arakcheev, this is a neighboring estate. But no... The sons of Kapnist and Lvov stood at the coffin, but Felitsa’s grandson was absent, and he did not find out in time about Derzhavin’s death. The servants got drunk in those days - one must think, from sorrowful thoughts. On July 11th it was time for the last service. The priests gathered around the coffin. “What impatience he had to do good!” said Praskovya Lvova. Accompanied by funeral singing, the coffin was transferred to a boat, and the funeral procession headed to the Khutynsky Monastery.

And I drink and will not die...

Those letters on the slate board have long been erased - they, of course, managed to be rewritten, which is why “Derzhavin’s last poem” appeared in our anthologies. After all, our poetic anthology does not begin with Pushkin. In the 18th century, an entire anthology was created, which the poets of Pushkin’s Golden Age read carefully and with passion.
The weakness of the poetry of the 18th century is that, following the principles of classicism (and even sentimentalism!), poets become predictable. But Derzhavin broke all the canons. He is a poet, extremely “wrong” and biased. It was not for nothing that Derzhavin suppressed all attempts by his friends to edit his powerful but wild talent. And Derzhavin’s ode is always a mixture of panegyric and satire, reality and fantasy, delight and self-irony. By the way, this is precisely why Catherine fell in love with him. After all, “Felitsa” is not a solemn ode, it’s just a smart and witty conversation at the level of poetic images. And this seemed funny to the empress - in contrast to Vasily Petrov’s boring, pompous odes.
That is why he turned out to be necessary for Baratynsky, Sluchevsky, Tsvetaeva, Mandelstam, Brodsky. And this list can go on for a long time. Poets have always found gold nuggets in the piles of Derzhavin’s tongue-tiedness. And when Pushkin’s harmony became boring, they turned to Derzhavin’s chaos.
Although between Pushkin and Derzhavin there is much more relatedness than divisiveness. Without “Felitsa” with its “funny Russian style”, in which irony was easily intertwined with pathos, “Eugene Onegin” would hardly have happened.

Now the balalaika is dear to me
Yes, the drunken tramp of a trepak
In front of the threshold of the tavern.
My ideal now is a mistress,
My desires are peace,
Yes, a pot of cabbage soup, and a big one. —

This is from Onegin. And this was clearly overheard by Derzhavin. And to your health! And in “Poltava” Pushkin could not do without the rhythms and rattle of Derzhavin’s battle odes - such as “The Capture of Izmail”.
In “Felitsa” we find that liberated tone in which irony and self-irony become more important than satire. In this case, for example,

in the genre of spiritual lyrics, Derzhavin remains unsurpassed. After all, it is also surprisingly diverse. When he was thrown into religious fervor, he created miraculous formulas of “God” and angrily preached in “To Rulers and Judges.”

At the same time, he had a “funny Russian style” and did not disdain low topics. And he didn’t keep them in the closet of the poet’s kitchen. Sometimes he expressed the main thoughts in the most “amusing” verses!

And how many catchphrases he gave us even before Krylov and Griboyedov. “It’s never too late to learn”, “Fatherland smoke is sweet and pleasant to us”, “Where there was a table of food, there is a coffin”, “A donkey will remain a donkey, although you shower him with stars”, “Moderation is the best feast”, “Excessive praise - mockery! or - let's listen! - “Life is an instant gift from heaven”...

Well, the most important thing and universally recognized is that Derzhavin was the first to leave a psychological self-portrait. He showed his life in detail, cheerfully, without hidden rooms. He did not hide his own weaknesses and vices. And I found poetic charm in such down-to-earth frankness: “There are two sips of coffee; I’ll snore for about five minutes” Well, Derzhavin’s detailed and luxurious gastronomic descriptions are memorable to many. Sometimes they are quoted without naming the author. I would like to compare this kind of poetry with painting—and excellent one at that:

Sheksninsk golden sterlet,
Kaymak and borscht are already standing;
In a glass of wine, punch, sparkling
Now with ice, now with sparks, they beckon;
Incense flows from the incense burners,
The fruits among the baskets are laughing,
The servants do not dare to breathe,
There's a table around waiting for you;
The hostess is stately and young
Ready to lend a hand.

The taste of these dinners has not worn out. Perhaps he was the first of the Russian poets to become simply a pleasant and useful interlocutor - sharp, emotional, to whom you listen, because he does not shout or stand on stilts. It is no coincidence that success came to him after the publication of “Felitsa” in the magazine “Sobesednik”.

However, Derzhavin could shout and charm for a dear soul. But he distinguished himself from his contemporaries by his humanity. Earthly charm! Life-loving poetry:

In a word: I burned love if there was a flame,
I fell, I got up in my time.
Come on, sage! on my coffin there is a stone,
If you're not human.

Literature and library science

And if anything remains Through the sounds of the lyre and trumpet, It will be devoured by the mouth of eternity And the common fate will not go away. The author reflects on eternity and the fact that absolutely all human affairs and aspirations will sooner or later be forgotten. The expression of the poem is created by the concentration of metaphors: the river of times, the abyss of oblivion, the mouth of eternity, and the phonetic organization of repetition [r] determines the tense tonality of the eight-line; sequence of stressed vowels in the third and penultimate lines o o e e o o. There are 2 images in the poem: images of time and eternity.

Poem by G.R. Derzhavin “The river of times in its aspiration...”. Perception, interpretation, evaluation. Expressive reading by heart.

History of creation

By the end of the 18th century, Derzhavin achieved a lot: he was a senator, a minister, and argued with the tsars. But there were many ministers, senators, secretaries of state, but he was still alone - the poet Derzhavin. Somehow it happened naturally that everyone recognized him as a genius. Of course, Derzhavin was first and foremost a courtier, a careerist. In his eyes, the order was more important than the ode. But over the years, he realized that it was literature that held the key to his immortality. And this was what his proud, ambitious soul always wanted. It is no coincidence that he translated “Monument” from Latin into Russian. He thought that it was his poems that would become an eternal monument to him...

But no! Years passed, he grew weaker, lost his sight, and gradually the eternal and sad truth was revealed to his gaze, which was inaccessible to him, the young man.

In the summer of 1816, in his beloved Zvanka, his estate in the Novgorod province, he began work on a new work. But the poet’s creative plans were not destined to come true: death interrupted his work. Only a few lines have reached us, written - which in itself is symbolic - on a slate board.

For reference. Slate board board made of black mineral on which to write with a stylus.

Two days before his death on July 6, 1816, he wrote its formula on a slate board:

R eka of time in its aspiration

U carries all people's affairs

AND drowns in the abyss of oblivion

N nations, kingdoms and kings.

A if anything remains

H sounds of the lyre and trumpet,

T about eternity will be devoured

AND common fate will not go away.

Perception, interpretation, evaluation

The philosophical work “The River of Times in its Aspiration...” is the poet’s attempt to express his view on the question of the meaning of life. The poems make you think about what will remain of a person’s actions after his death. The author reflects on eternity, on the fact that absolutely all human affairs and aspirations will sooner or later be forgotten. Indeed, everything passes eventually. Human actions can be evil and good, noble or not, but they are not eternal. Time passes and everything is forgotten. New people come who do not remember what happened before them. The only thing that matters is what is now, because everything else simply doesn’t matter.

There is nothing eternal on earth, so it makes no sense to give a person’s actions and actions too great importance. The fate of everything earthly is too fragile and ephemeral, everything exists only for a moment.“Eternal” philosophical problems are brought out by the author into the subtext of the work.

The poem is permeated with a pessimistic feeling. Its author is an elderly man, wise with years of experience, perhaps an old man, calmly and wisely looking at the vanity of the world. He has nowhere to rush, he knows the value of life.

The expression of the poem is created by the concentration of metaphors (river of times, abyss of oblivion, mouth of eternity)and phonetic organization (the repetition of [p] determines the tense tonality of the eight-line; the sequence of stressed vowels in the third and penultimate lines (о ое//еоо)).

There are 2 images in the poem: images of time and eternity. Both time and history in Derzhavin’s poem have an end and do not imply either the triumph of progress or the establishment of harmony: the words carries away, drowns, gets devoured, oblivion, abyss and vent are close in meaning “death”, “loss”, “end”, “non-existence”. The prevalence of these signs in “all human affairs”

In the first quatrain, imperfective verbs are used, denoting the duration of the process and the repetition of the laws of history, which continue to operate while earthly time flows. In the second quatrain, the perfect form, which gives the verbs the meaning of limit, serves as a kind of metaphor for the end of world history.

The image of time is compared with the image of eternity, and the plan of the present constant is replaced by the plan of the future (That will be devoured by the mouth of eternity). If in everyday linguistic consciousness eternity is usually reduced to a temporary duration that has neither beginning nor end, then Derzhavin, speaking about eternity, avoids specific temporal characteristics and dimensions. On the one hand, his eternity is dynamic (it will be devoured), on the other, in accordance with the poetic tradition of the 18th century, it comes close to Chaos, which for ancient philosophers and poets was embodied in the image of the abyss.

The incomprehensibility of eternity in Derzhavin’s poem is reflected in the rejection of its detailed figurative characterization. If the image of history (time) is built on the basis of a chain of closely interconnected metaphors and is detailed (time a river with a stormy current, rushing towards the “abyss of oblivion”), then eternity in the text has only one figurative sign an all-consuming crater.

The word fate in the last line turns out to be ambiguous: on the one hand, it has the meaning of “fate, destiny”, on the other hand, it realizes the meaning of “immutable law”,

Conclusion

In Derzhavin’s poem, the motif of judgment develops, which has several aspects: this is the determination of the true price of people’s actions, and summing up the results, and establishing the place of art in history, and the judgment of time over man, and overcoming time itself.