Now, we know that Taylor Swift has been coined as a lyrical mastermind for many years, but who knew that she was a poetic genius by blood? Recently the genealogy company Ancestry.com exclusively shared with NBC News that the singer and Emily Dickinson are 6th cousins, 3rd removed. It’s so pretty to think that all along there was this invisible string that tied these two creatives together. Basically, Swift’s 9th great-grandfather, and Dickinson’s 6th great-grandfather, was a 17th century English settler in Connecticut. Although this may seem super distant and irrelevant, the media took this as a gold rush since two icons that impacted society generations apart are surprisingly related.
Despite the shocking news that Swift and Dickinson are actually related, fans were even MORE shocked by the fact that their conspiracies surrounding potential allusions to Dickinson by Swift were in fact true. It has been long assumed that Evermore, Taylor Swift’s 9th studio album, is connected to Emily Dickinson. Many of her lyrical connections perfectly aligned with Dickinson’s prose, such as in her song “ivy.” The song mentions concepts like death and spirits, and is essentially about a woman who is lost in her loveless marriage. On the other hand, Emily Dickinson had written many poetic letters to her sister-in-law, Sue, who she was said to be in love with. She ends one of these letters with “Sue – forevermore!” which not so coincidentally is how the song “ivy” ends (minus the mention of Sue). Not to mention the fact that Evermore was announced on December 10th (Emily Dickinson’s birthday), with “evermore” as the 10th track. Coincidence? I think not!
If that wasn’t a crazy enough connection for you, let’s go back to Swift’s acceptance of her Songwriter Of The Decade Award from the 2022 Nashville Songwriters Association International. When getting this award and publicly commenting on her own songwriting skills, the mastermind mentioned, “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”. Initially, this wasn’t a surprising clue to the public that the musical star is related to famous poet Emily Dickinson. People, including myself, just thought that it was beautiful imagery that connected with another creative mind who’s work aligned with the dark beautiful tragedies in Swift’s music. But Swift said SIKE!
With her announcement of a new album “The Tortured Poets Department,” this was a great time for such publicity of the familial relationship between Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson. I’m sure fans will now be on more of a hunt to find allusions and tie back certain phrases in the upcoming album. Even though it seems like this is no surprise to Miss Swift herself, I still thought this was a wild connection when it popped up on my phone a couple of days ago. No one was joking when they said “everyone is connected.” In what world does a 19th century American poet and international superstar have so much overlap?