He attended high school in his hometown and then studied law.
He established friendly relations with the Surrealists and met André Breton on the occasion of the publication of his collection Préface à l'amour in 1953.
He evolved from a lyrical writing to a drier, sometimes more anguished writing, but always attentive to everyday objects, animals, plants and the earth that carries them.
He asserted that poetry "requires rigorous language."
He created the magazines Action poétique (1950–1956, with Gérald Neveu) then Sud (1970), which would continue the action of Les Cahiers du Sud.