"" ("The Sardinian Patriot to the Lords"), widely known also by its

incipit The incipit ( ) of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of Musical note, notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin an ...

as "" ("Endeavor to Moderate"), is a

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

and antifeudal

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

in the

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

. The chant was written in Logudorese Sardinian by the lawyer Francesco Ignazio Mannu () on the occasion of the Sardinian mass revolts (1793–1796) against the Savoyard

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring socie ...

, that culminated with the execution or expulsion from the island of the officials of the ruling

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

on 28 April 1794 (officially commemorated today as or "Sardinian people's day"). Because of its temporal coincidence with the French Revolution, the song was also nicknamed by J. W. Tyndale and other scholars like as "the Sardinian

Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. It was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by the First French Republic against Austria, and was originally titled "". The French Nati ...

". Long regarded as a

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

in Sardinian culture, "" was officially declared as the island's anthem in 2018.

Lyrics

The anthem is a poetry written in

octave In music, an octave (: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is an interval between two notes, one having twice the frequency of vibration of the other. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referr ...

with a metrical pattern of ''a bb cc dd e'', and its content resounds with typical

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

themes. The entire text consists of 47 stanzas for a total of 376 verses, and describes the miserable state of Sardinia at the end of the 18th century, kept as an overseas dependency of the

with an archaic feudal system that would only advantage the feudatories and leave a Sardinian only with "a rope to hang himself" (stanza 34, verse 272). The incipit is, in fact, addressed to the feudatories' arrogance, regarded as the people being most at fault for the island's decadence: ("Endeavor to moderate, Oh barons! your tyranny..."). The disastrous socio-economic situation plaguing the island is described in detail. The oppressors from the Mainland are also harshly criticized: according to the poet, they did not care about Sardinia, and the only thing that would concern them was to surround themselves with richness and loot through the cheap exploitation of the island's resources, in a manner analogous to what Spain had done on the

Indies The East Indies (or simply the Indies) is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The ''Indies'' broadly referred to various lands in the East or the Eastern Hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found i ...

("Sardinia to the Piedmontese was like a golden land; what Spain found in the Indies, they discovered here": stanza 32, verses 249–251). The chant closes with a vigorous incitement to revolt, sealed with a terse Sardinian saying: ("When the wind is in your harbour, is the proper time to winnow": stanza 47, verse 375–376). Here, following the original lyrics in Sardinian.

Editions, translations and literary critique

The anthem was illegally published in

Sassari Sassari ( ; ; ; ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 120,497 inhabitants as of 2025, and a functional urban area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, it contains ...

in 1796 and not in the nearby island of

Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...

, as it was believed until recently. After all, Sassari was already taken by the rebels and, in 1796, ruled by the ''alternos'' Giovanni Maria Angioy. The song was first translated into another language by John Warre Tyndale, in English, in 1849 ("Endeavor to Moderate..."), while Auguste Boullier would publish a French translation in his own book () in June 1864 with the incipit being "". The anthem, aside from any copy that had been illegally circulating on the island, was published for the first time in Sardinia in 1865 by Giovanni Spano. and later by Enrico Costa, who also made an Italian translation. Sebastiano Satta would provide another Italian translation on the centenary of Giovanni Maria Angioy's triumphant entrance in the city. In 1979, B. Granzer and B. Schütze would translate the song into German, with the title "". Raffa Garzia compared the song to

Giuseppe Parini Giuseppe Parini (23 May 1729 – 15 August 1799) was an Italian satirist and Neoclassicism, Neoclassical poet. Biography Parini (originally spelled Parino) was born in Bosisio Parini, Bosisio (later renamed Bosisio Parini in his honour) in Brianz ...

's "". The scholar also drew attention to another two poems having a similar subject: one by the

Ploaghe Ploaghe () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Sassari in the Italy, Italian region Sardinia, located about north of Cagliari and about southeast of Sassari. Ploaghe borders the following municipalities: Ardara (SS), Ardara, Chiar ...

se poet Maria Baule about the attempted French invasion of the island in 1793, with the title "" ("We Are Still at War"), that was published by Giovanni Spano; the other one, always addressing the events of 1793, by the Gavoese poet Michele Carboni (1764–1814) titled "". ("Come On, Patriots, to War!").

Performers

* Maria Teresa Cau *

Maria Carta Maria Carta (24 June 1934 – 22 September 1994) was a Sardinian folk music singer-songwriter. She also performed in film and theatre. In 1975 she wrote a book of poetry, ''Canto rituale'' (Ritual Song). Throughout her 25-year career she cove ...

* Peppino Marotto * Gruppo Rubanu (

Orgosolo Orgosolo () is a ''comune'' (municipality) located in the Province of Nuoro, in the autonomous region of Sardinia, at about north of Cagliari and about south of Nuoro. The municipality is famous for its murals. These political paintings can be ...

) * Tazenda and Andrea Parodi * Piero Marras and Maria Giovanna Cherchi * Kenze Neke * Elena Ledda * Cordas et Cannas, in (1983) * Coro Supramonte * Pino Masi * Savina Yannatou * Stefano Saletti, Piccola Banda Ikona, with Ambrogio Sparagna

References

Bibliography

* *
Italian edition: * * * *

External links