Terian was born in the Gandza village (განძანი) of Javakheti region of Georgia (then in Russian Empire).

Schooled in Tiflis, he then studied at the Lazarian College in Moscow, where he was exposed to symbolism and joined the Russian Social Democrats.

He published his first book of poems, "Dreams at Dusk", in 1908, which made him an immediate sensation, Hovhannes Tumanian calling him the most original lyric poet of his age.

His poems are filled with images of rain, mist, pallid fields and shapeless shadows, symbols of sorrow, despair and eventually, peace.

In 1964 soil from the Orenburg cemetery was brought to Yerevan by Terian's daughter and buried in the Komitas Pantheon with a cenotaph was placed.