"Su patriotu sardu a sos feudatarios" ("The Sardinian Patriot to the Lords"),[1] widely known also by its incipit as "Procurade 'e moderare" ("Endeavor to Moderate"), is a protest and antifeudal folk song in the culture of Sardinia.
[2][3][4][5] Because of its temporal coincidence with the French Revolution, the song was also nicknamed by J. W. Tyndale and other scholars like Auguste Boullier [fr; it] as "the Sardinian Marseillaise".
[8][9][10][11] The anthem is a poetry written in octave with a metrical pattern of a bb cc dd e, and its content resounds with typical Enlightenment themes.
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 ("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: Cando si tenet su bentu est prezisu bentulare ("When the wind is in your harbour, is the proper time to winnow": stanza 47, verse 375–376).
Procurad'e moderare, barones, sa tirannia, chi si no, pro vida mia torrades a pe' in terra!
No apprettedas s 'isprone A su poveru ronzinu, Si no in mesu caminu S'arrempellat appuradu; Mizzi chi est lanzu e cansadu E non 'nde podet piusu; Finalmente a fundu in susu S'imbastu 'nd hat a bettare
Su pobulu chi in profundu Letargu fit sepultadu Finalmente despertadu S'abbizzat ch 'est in cadena, Ch'istat suffrende sa pena De s'indolenzia antiga: Feudu, legge inimiga A bona filosofia!
Che ch'esseret una inza, Una tanca, unu cunzadu, Sas biddas hana donadu De regalu o a bendissione; Comente unu cumone De bestias berveghinas Sos homines et feminas Han bendidu cun sa cria
Si su barone non faghet S'obbligassione sua, Vassallu, de parte tua A nudda ses obbligadu; Sos derettos ch'hat crobadu In tantos annos passodos Sunu dinaris furados E ti los devet torrare.
Pro poder tenner piattos Bindighi e vinti in sa mesa, Pro chi potat sa marchesa Sempre andare in portantina; S'iscarpa istrinta mischina, La faghet andare a toppu, Sas pedras punghene troppu E non podet camminare
Timende chi si reforment Disordines tantu mannos, Cun manizzos et ingannos Sas Cortes han impedidu; Et isperdere han cherfidu Sos patrizios pius zelantes, Nende chi fint petulantes Et contra sa monarchia
Però su chelu hat difesu Sos bonos visibilmente, Atterradu bat su potente, Ei s'umile esaltadu, Deus, chi s'est declaradu Pro custa patria nostra, De ogn'insidia bostra Isse nos hat a salvare.
Issos dae custa terra Ch'hana ogadu migliones, Beniant senza calzones E si nd'handaiant gallonados; Mai ch'esserent istados Chi ch'hana postu su fogu Malaittu cuddu logu Chi criat tale zenìa
The song was first translated into another language by John Warre Tyndale, in English, in 1849 ("Endeavor to Moderate..."),[13] while Auguste Boullier would publish a French translation in his own book (Essai sur le dialecte et les chants populaires de la Sardaigne) in June 1864 with the incipit being "Songez à modérer...".
[14] 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[15][16] 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.
[17] The scholar also drew attention to another two poems having a similar subject: one by the Ploaghese poet Maria Baule about the attempted French invasion of the island in 1793, with the title "Ancora semus in gherra"[18] ("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 "Ànimu, patriottas, a sa gherra!