On December 13, 1890, in a meeting with several friends, José Martà read his Versos Sencillos (Simple Verses).
The Simple Verses of Martà total 46. Most of these poems are structured in quartets. Martà wrote them when he was in direct contact with nature, recovering from health problems. Topics referred to nature are in fact present in several poems in which he also reflected some of his experiences and he made allusion to family and friends and expressed very significant concepts.
In October of 1891 the Versos Sencillos were published in New York, the United States.
With the text of several of José MartÃ's verses, the American singer Pete Seeger played his version of Guantanamera on June 8 1963, in the Carnegie Hall of New York, the same city in which they had been published.