Born of an old Norman family, Régnier began to prepare for a career as a diplomat, but while studying law in Paris he came under the influence of the Symbolist poets and published his first volume of poems, Lendemains (“Tomorrows”), in 1885. Other volumes followed: Les Jeux rustiques et divins (1897; “Games—Tough and Divine”), Les Médailles d'argile (1900; “Clay Medals”), and La Sandale ailée (1906; “The Winged Sandal”).

In 1896 Régnier married Marie de Heredia, daughter of an eminent poet, José María de Heredia. She later became a poet in her own right, publishing under the name of Gérard d'Houville. Influenced by his father-in-law, Régnier abandoned his earlier free and relatively uncontrolled writing style in favour of more classical forms. For his themes, however, he continued to draw on the concerns of the Symbolists. He also wrote a number of novels, generally evoking a time and place in the past, particularly 14th- and 18th-century Italy and France: La Double Maîtresse (1900), La Peur de l'amour (1907; “Fear of Love”), La Pécheresse (1912; “The Sinner”), and Le Voyage d'amour (1930).

A man of aristocratic bearing and tastes, Régnier became an important figure in French intellectual society in the years following the turn of the century. In 1911 he was elected to the Académie Française.