Paul Fleming, German poet of baroque era (1609-1640), published a cycle of latin love poems titled Kisses in 1631 and dedicated the little book to a fellow student as a wedding gift. The title not only brings into focus one special aspect of love poetry, but also places the cycle within the tradition of kiss poetry of Early Modern times, which has been related closely to ancient poetry. The cycle has been framed by wedding poems in the strict sense. This way, several erotic discourses and the discourse of wedding poetry have been mixed in Fleming's Kisses . Moreover, the language of love and the language of Jesuit meditation have coalesced. This volume contains an edition, commentary and translation of the texts, which could not be read but in an edition of the 19th century up to now. It also contains a study of kiss poems and wedding poems of antiquity and Early Modern age, which aims at identifying the different (love) discourses.
