The obvious gaps in standardisation in German baroque poetics are partially filled by poetological prefaces. Despite this, however, taught genre norms remain quite tentative. This absence of binding norms affords an artistic latitude, the significance of which has hitherto been underestimated. The study provides a systematic analysis of the theoretical genre standards laid down in poetological manuals and prefaces. The wealth of material presented also makes the volume useful as a compendium of genre history.