It seems Taylor Swift's ability to write runs deep, dating back to poet Emily Dickinson.
The singer of “Karma” and the author of “'Hope' is the Thing with Feathers” are distant relatives, specifically “sixth cousins, thrice separated.” The genealogy site Ancestry.com revealed Monday that the two writers are descended from “a 17th-century English immigrant” who settled in Windsor, Connecticut.
That distant ancestor was Dickinson's sixth great-grandfather and Swift's ninth, Ancestry.com added. Swift's side of the family remained in Connecticut for “six generations until her side of the family settled in northwestern Pennsylvania,” the Today site said.
“I guess we can really say that all's fair in love and poetry,” the site captioned an Instagram post revealing its discovery.
The new Swift-Dickinson link brings some long-standing theories from Swifties full circle. Years ago, eagle-eyed fans of the “Bad Blood” singer noticed that she released her single “Evermore” on the night of December 10, 2020, which would have been Dickinson's 190th birthday. For those wondering, Swift (born December 13, 1989) and Dickinson share the same astrological sign: Sagittarius. Additionally, Swift's song and album of the same name sounded similar to “Sue — Forevermore!” of Dickinson.
Dickinson lived in Amherst, Massachusetts, and died in 1886 at age 55. She was known for her short lyric poems that included “Success Is Told Sweeter,” “Wild Nights, Wild Nights.” and “Tell the whole truth, but tell it in a biased way.”
Upon receiving the songwriter and artist of the decade award from the Nashville Songwriters Assn. International in 2022, Swift, 34, said the poetic feel of her music was no coincidence.
“I classify certain songs of mine in the Quill style if the words and phrasing are old-fashioned, if I was inspired to write them after reading Charlotte Brontë or after watching a movie where everyone wears poet's shirts and corsets,” he said during his speech. , Pitchfork reported. “If my lyrics sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson's great-grandmother while she was sewing a lace curtain, that's me writing in the Quill genre.”
Swift will apparently take her love of poetry to the next level with her upcoming album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” which she announced at the 66th Grammy Awards in February.
“I want to thank the fans by telling them a secret that I've been keeping from them for the last two years,” he said, “and that is that my new album is coming out on April 19.”
Swift, the self-proclaimed president of the Department of Tortured Poets, made history at the Grammy Awards, setting a record for the most wins by an artist in the album of the year category.
Since her big announcement, Swift has been slowly spreading information on social media about her latest release. Since she announced “The Tortured Poets Department,” Swift has revealed her tracklist, featured artists, and album art.
