Most of his childhood and youth were spent on the island of Öland where he was born. Educated by tutors and self-taught from his clergyman father's library, he attended the University of Uppsala and then became a civil servant in Stockholm.

Both his works and his life reflect a conflict between strong erotic impulses and a radically ascetic religious position. Little more is known about him; even the chronology of most of his works cannot be determined with any certainty. During the last few years of his short life, he did, however, publish two dramas, Martyrerna (1821; “The Martyrs”) and Backanterna (1822; “The Bacchantes”), as well as a collection of religious lyrics, Liljor i Saron (1821; “Lilies in Sharon”). His Samlade skrifter (1824–26; “Collected Works”), containing his vast unpublished material, appeared shortly after his death.