The Contemporary In The Cosmic

New York at the time of writing in 1954:

"He looked out of his window. Lights flamed against a hectic sky; the streets crawled with automobiles and a hurrying, faceless crowd; he could not see the towers of Manhattan from here, but he knew they reared arrogant toward the clouds."
-Poul Anderson, "Time Patrol" IN Anderson, The Guardians Of Time (New York, 1981), pp. 9-63 AT 3, p. 26.

Anderson conveys dynamism:

lights flame;
the sky is hectic;
streets are full of autombiles;
the crowd hurries;
towers rear arrogantly;
people are on the move;
a civilization is going somewhere.

But, so far, it is what is happening at the time of writing. Then comes the perspective, not only past but also future:

"And it was all one swirl on a river that swept from the peaceful prehuman landscape where he had been to the unimaginable Danellian future."
-ibid.

So some reflection is appropriate:

"How many billions and trillions of human creatures lived, laughed, wept, worked, hoped, and died in its currents!"
-ibid.

How many? Also: how many! That last sentence is not a question because it ends with an exclamation mark.