Verwey was born in the center of Amsterdam; all his life he spoke with a strong local accent.
In 1885 he was a co-founder of the periodical De Nieuwe Gids (“The New Guide”), which was one of the chief organs of the Dutch literary revival of the 1880s.
Verwey was a close friend of Willem Kloos, and an affair developed between the two poets, which is unprecedented in Dutch literature.
Verwey translated and promoted medieval poetry in search of passion, vision, and dreams.
[4] Verwey was a prolific writer; at the University of Amsterdam his carefully kept correspondence (of 20,000 letters) can be consulted.