The speech I gave
At the tomb of Immanuel Kant,
In famous Königsberg,
Today Kaliningrad,
(Probably chosen because I was
A rare philosophical owl
Among prominent writers,
All falcons and falcon-gentles)
Was rather sad,
As there was nothing left of
Kant’s Königsberg.
Even the inn was gone
Where every day,
After finishing work
On his famous Critiques,
He indulged himself
In playing cards till late.
Not a trace of that free play
Between imagination and understanding.
No signs remained
Of the never-deserted city
Except for the old Cathedral,
Being renovated by
Some German foundation.
Who knows, maybe Russians
Still think of Kant
As a philosopher- idealist,
Yet, it seems that all of this
Has nothing to do with
Materialism or idealism:
To extinguish the memory of Kant
Is the same as to extinguish the memory that
Once, this had been Prussia.
But who can put out
The starry sky above us
And the moral law within us?