Marti dedicated to his son José Francisco. It is called Ismaelillo, as he would have liked to name his own son.

When the reader starts reading the Ismaelillo book, he will learn about Jose Marti as a loving father and an honest man, in his formative and redemptive condition.

While writing this beautiful book, José Martí was able to reach the readers‘souls, from the prologue to the last page including that part in which he referred that the poems had served as a shelter when misfortune frightened him of everything.

Marti had decided not to sell anyone of the copies that were printed in the printing house of Thompson and Moreau, in New York City (1882). He gave the copies to many of his friends as a gift and he told all of them about the personal significance of that book.

Marti wrote Ismaelillo in Caracas, Venezuela. The introductory words depict his long-awaited faith in humankind and the virtue as a noble quality of the human being. Through elaborate verses, Marti shows his paternal side and places his son as the purest thing of the human condition, as an example to follow.

After the prologue, the poem's book starts with a lot of images and exquisite rhythms adorning the work. It presents both the pleasing posture from a father and his intransigence towards the accomplishment of the duty.

While reading the book, the reader will notice the yearning of a father for embracing his son, the sacred memories of the child´s brief company as well as the persistence of the child´s dreams. You feel like the child´s presence prevails over his absence.

When the reader starts reading the Ismaelillo book, he will learn about Jose Marti as a loving father and an honest man, in his formative and redemptive condition.