It’s no secret that Taylor Swift is one of the greatest lyricists and songwriters of our time, or of any ‘era’ in history for that matter. And now it’s been discovered that her penchant for poetry, remarkable rhyming and writing of lyrics that can both empower you and make you weep could literally be in her blood.
Today reported that genealogy company Ancestry revealed that Swift is related to the iconic American poet Emily Dickinson. This makes it even more fitting that Swift’s highly anticipated upcoming album, which debuts April 19, is titled “The Tortured Poets Department.”
Apparently, Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed. Ancestry told Today, “Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant (Swift’s ninth great-grandfather and Dickinson’s sixth great-grandfather who was an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut).”
Swift actually gave a nod to Dickinson in 2022 while accepting the songwriter-artist of the decade award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International. Swift said, “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.”
Furthermore, Swift’s fans are of the mind that her heart-wrenching album “Evermore” was inspired by Emily Dickinson. The compelling tweet below provides pretty solid evidence that the album has a direct connection to the poet.
YOU'RE TELLING ME TAYLOR SWIFT IS DROPPING A NEW COTTAGECORE ALBUM ON THE SAME DAY AS EMILY DICKINSON'S BIRTHDAY CALLED EVERMORE WHICH IS HOW EMILY DICKINSON CLOSED ONE OF HER MOST ROMANTIC POEMS THAT SHE WROTE FOR HER LOVER SUE GILBERT???? pic.twitter.com/NYeIymeihc
— wass'ˣ ¦ LYON N2 (@taylordspatrol) December 10, 2020
Even more Swift math points to the poet in the following exchange: The singer told Entertainment Weekly in an interview that the idea she had for the cover of her album “Folklore” was of “this girl sleepwalking through the forest in a nightgown in 1830…” which is the year Dickinson was born.
Perhaps ‘Mastermind’ Swift has known about her blood ties to Dickinson all along, and we’re just finding out now!
This story was originally published by Beth Shea at Simplemost.
