As a child, he had frail health and spent much of his time at the countryside in Zegelsem (East Flanders), with his paternal grandparents.

In 1879, at the request of his father, he started as a student at the Faculty of Science at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), but he himself wanted to become a writer, not a scientist.

Also in 1902, he published De wonderbare wereld (E: The Wonderful World), followed by Het stille gesternte (E: The silent stars) in 1903.

In 1903, he was also co-founder of the illustrated magazine Vlaanderen (E: Flanders), which succeeded Van nu en straks (E: Of now and soon).

Also in 1909 he published his essay Het Vlaamsch Tooneel (E: Flemish theatre), which showed his appreciation for Edward Gordon Craig.

In the meantime he continued with his writing, such as with Johan Doxa and De lemen torens in 1917 and Nieuwe Uilenspiegel in 1922.

From 1925 through 1938, he taught Dutch at the Akademie voor Schone Kunsten (E:Academy for Fine Arts) in Antwerp and from 1928 up to 1936 at the Stedelijke Meisjesnormaalschool (E: Urban little girl teacher school) in Brussels.

In 1917 he became a member of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (E: Society for Dutch Literature) in Leiden, and in 1919, he became a member of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie voor Taal- en Letterkunde (E:Royal Flemish Academy for Language - and Literature).

In Het gevecht met de engel (E: The fight with the angel), the unavoidability of destiny was emphasized (1952).