Fleming, PAUL, one of the best German poets of the 17th century, was born 5th October 1609, at
Hartenstein, in Vogtland. He studied medicine at Leipzig, and accompanied embassies sent by the Duke of Holstein to Russia and to Persia. He returned in 1639, married, and resolved to settle as a physician in Hamburg, but died there, 2d April 1640. Fleming stands at the head of the German lyric poets of the 17th century. His Geistliche und weltliche Poemata (1642) contain many exquisite love-songs, which for more than a century remained unequalled in finish and sweetness. Others are full of glowing enthusiasm, ardent patriotism, and manly vigour, while his sonnets are marked by strength and thorough originality. The most complete collection is that of Lappenberg (2 vols. 1866), who had already edited his Latin poems in 1863.