The East Prussian poet Simon Dach (1605-1658) is regarded as a master of baroque societal poetry. However, the lyrical I in his numerous occasional poems cannot always be interpreted as a role I of rhetorical convention; rather, it embodies various discourses that can conflict during times of personal crisis for the poet. The discourse-analytical study interprets such transgressions as identity tests of a lyrical I, whose relations to societal institutions have become precarious. The three parts of the study each focus on a theme of identity-forming significance in Dach's poetry: the garden, the praise of the poet, and illness. First, each theme is traced back to its foundation in cultural and literary historical sources. Then, through individual analyses, the meaning and function of the theme are examined.