His extensive oeuvre is characterized by its own solemn style and rich symbolism.

Already at the age of twenty, he managed to publish poems in the literary magazine "De XXste Eeuw".

"Deirdre and the sons of Usnach" ("Deirdre en de zonen van Usnach", 1920), which appeared in the bibliophile series Palladium, is a poetic story in a Celtic world.

In 1918, Roland Holst went to live in Bergen, where his house is now inhabited by various writers and poets in rotation.

He had many literary friends, such as Menno ter Braak, J. C. Bloem, E. du Perron, J. Slauerhoff, M. Vasalis and Victor E. van Vriesland.