Non Potho Reposare (I Cannot Rest) is  the title of a famous Sardinian song. In 1915 Salvatore Sini (1873 – 1954), a Sardinian lawyer from Nuoro who enjoyed writing, composed a love poem entitled “A Diosa” (To the Goddess). Later, in 1921, Giuseppe Rachel, who was the conductor of the local band, composed a melody for pianoforte and tenor to accompany the poem, which in its song form became known as Non Potho Reposare, taken from its first line. The song was first recorded in 1936 by the tenor Maurizio Carta, but it only became famous in Sardinia and Italy in 1966, when it was contemporarily recorded by two folk choirs. Since then it has been performed by various artists, including a version in 2004 recorded by the pop-folk Sardinian singer Andrea Parodi, accompanied by the American guitarist Al Di Meola (of Italian origins).

My favourite version was recorded by Maria Carta (Nuoro 1934 – Roma 1994), with her beautiful emotional voice. You can listen to it by clicking on the photo below:

Click on the photo to listen to Non Potho Reposare

Here are the original lyrics in Sardinian, alongside an Italian translation, followed by my translation into English:

I cannot rest, love of my heart
I’m thinking of you all the time,
don’t be sad, golden jewel,
nor in pain or worried,
I assure you that I desire only you
because I really love you, I love you, I love you

If it were possible I would take
the invisible spirit of the angel,
I would steal the sun from the sky 
and the stars in all their shapes
and I would create a beautiful world for you 
to be able to give you every good thing

Sad eyes, with delicious memories
like shadows that disappear in the morning
like images that become reality,
I would ask every heart in love
if they’ve ever seen so much love in the world,
and why so much loving creates so much pain.

N.B. Sardinian is not a dialect but a proper language which I’m not familiar with. I had to rely, therefore, on Italian translations which I found on the internet. I apologise if there are any mistakes.