He went to the Faludi Ferenc Reálgimnázium Secondary School, where he was the student of Ágoston Pável who also offered him accommodations. For one and a half years after graduation, he worked on his father's farm in Csönge. He graduated in philosophy and aesthetics, receiving his PhD in 1939. Moved to Budapest in 1943, but spent two years at the end of World War II in Csönge. In 1946 he married the poetess Amy Károlyi and lived in Budapest until his death. Published nearly 50 books and also translated works of Slovenian poets (Dragotin Kette, Josip Murn Aleksandrov, Ivan Cankar, Oton Župančič).
In 1970 he received the Kossuth Award. The Szombathely Theater was named after him.