Poetry is a significant genre within the study of literature. Although it is a genre that can seem a bit intimidating, if we avoid or ignore poetry, we lose an enormous and fundamental part of the history, craftsmanship and beauty of the recorded word available to us. This text introduces poetry by situating it in the context of a student's own experience. Surviving Poetry is a user-friendly guide to reading poetry, a genre that, at times, seems obscure and overly literary by many undergraduate students.