Taylor Swift Is Related To Famous Poet Emily Dickinson, Which Adds New Meaning To Her Album 'The Tortured Poet's Department'
If you are a fan of hit singer Taylor Swift and have noticed some odd connections to the famed American poet, Emily Dickinson, it might not be entirely coincidental. According to a new report from genealogy business Ancestry.com, one of the world’s most famous country/pop songbirds appears to be distantly related to one of the most famous poets in world history, Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). Ancestry.com excitedly reported on their Instagram account on March 4 that Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed.
However, this revelation comes as no surprise to Taylor’s fans, as some of them had already made connections between them before this confirmation. Her Evermore album debuted on December 10, 2020, which, coincidentally (or perhaps not so much) would have been Dickinson’s 194th birthday. Also, the title was believed by some to have been inspired by Dickinson’s poem, “One Sister Have I In Our House”, which uses the word, “forevermore". Swift also discussed the album cover for Evermore and her idea of “this girl sleepwalking through the forest in a nightgown in 1830,” which was the year of Dickinson’s birth. Her upcoming album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, also appears to be a reference to Dickinson.
RELATED:
Additionally, Swift has directly referenced Dickinson before, as well while talking about the different types of lyrics she writes: “If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great-grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre,” she said in 2022 while receiving the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Swift explained that the lyrics she writes fall under three genre categories depending on the writing instrument she imagines herself writing them with, including a quill, a fountain pen, or a glitter gel pen.
The media has reached out to Swift’s representative for further comment about this revelation. It is unknown what prompted the Ancestry.com report that made the connection; regardless, they used their "vast collection of online records to discover a family connection" between Swift and Dickinson.
READ NEXT: