For someone who famously sings about having bad blood, Taylor Swift got some pretty impressive DNA results from Ancestry.com — turns out she is distantly related to renowned poet Emily Dickinson.
TODAY exclusively reported the findings on Monday, in which genealogy company Ancestry discovered that Swift and Dickinson are sixth cousins, three times removed.
The company explained that “Swift and Dickinson both descend from a 17th century English immigrant (Swift’s 9th great-grandfather and Dickinson’s 6th great-grandfather who was an early settler of Windsor, Connecticut).”
“Taylor Swift’s ancestors remained in Connecticut for six generations until her part of the family eventually settled in northwestern Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift family line,” the statement continued.
As if Taylor Swift wasn't already revered by fans, critics and the media enough, now she can add “being related to one of the most revered American poets of all time” to her ever-growing list of accolades.
The news is also welcome publicity for Swift, as her new album — set to release on April 19 — is entitled The Tortured Poets Department. Further, Swift has even publicly referenced Dickinson in speaking about her songwriting process in the past.
“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,” Swift intuitively proclaimed at the Nashville Songwriters Association International in 2022, while receiving the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award.
Turns out that was a more apropos analogy than Swift even realized at the time. Her reference to the ‘Quill genre' was meant to connote those songs of Swift's that she intentionally writes in an antiquated style, as if she's in a period piece and holding a quill in her hand.
Deep diving Swifties (and Dickinson…sies?) have found additional connections between the two preeminent wordsmiths. When Swift's ninth studio album, Evermore, came out in 2020, many fans surmised that it was inspired by Emily Dickinson, since the 19th century poet's birthday coincided with the album's announcement date.
Further evidence, said Swifties, is the fact that Dickinson has a poem entitled “One Sister Have I in Our House” which contains the word “forevermore,” which is just one “for” away from Swift's album title.
And if that's not enough to have in common, the TODAY exclusive also pointed out a comment Swift made to Entertainment Weekly about the cover of her Folklore album — explaining to the magazine that she had an idea for “this girl sleepwalking through the forest in a nightgown in 1830,” which is… wait for it… the year Emily Dickinson was born! Is your mind blown yet?
Dickinson also wrote quite passionately (for the 19th century) about love, with her personal life and gossip over her romantic entanglements constantly being poured over. Sound familiar?
And the way Taylor Swift feels about friendship bracelets — that's pretty much how Emily Dickinson felt about the long dash in her poetry. Read an Emily Dickinson poem and check out how many “–“s you see along the way.
But the most important analogy between the two artists is the unique and captivating way with words that both women wrote in their respective generations. In that regard, it shouldn't really come as a huge surprise that Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson are distantly related, but it's sure to continue making headlines nevertheless. And it should make for some good new conversation at the next Swift family reunion picnic at the park.
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