Taylor Swift is related to famed American poet Emily Dickinson, Ancestry reveals
Singer and the 19th century poet both descend from a 17th century English immigrant
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Your support makes all the difference.Taylor Swift is related to the great American poet Emily Dickinson, popular genealogy site Ancestry has revealed.
The 34-year-old pop superstar and the 19th century poet are sixth cousins thrice removed.
“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),” Ancestry told TODAY.
“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.”
Swift was born in West Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1989 to Andrea and Scott Swift.
When she was 14, her family relocated to Nashville, Tennessee to support her burgeoning music career.
Dickinson, meanwhile, who is often regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry, was born and raised in Amherst, Massachusetts. She died there aged 55 in 1886.
Throughout her life, Dickinson wrote thousands of poems, but only 10 of those actually went on to get published during her lifetime, in addition to one of her letters. At the time, though, her unique style of poetry – which often contained short stanzas and lacked titles – was heavily edited to fit conventional poetic rules.
A majority of her work was published posthumously after her younger sister Lavinia found her collection of nearly 1,800 poems.
Her works are heavily revered in American literature and are often taught to US students from middle school to university.
14-time Grammy winner Swift, whose forthcoming album is coincidentally titled The Tortured Poets Department, has previously name-dropped Dickinson when talking about her song lyrics.
“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,” the “Cruel Summer” singer said while accepting the 2022 Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International.
Following the surprise announcement of her highly anticipated 11th studio album at the 66th Grammys, Swift revealed the record’s 17-song tracklist on social media. Featured artists will include Post Malone and Florence and the Machine.
After a week-long hiatus, Swift resumed her Eras Tour in Singapore on Sunday (3 March). She will then embark on the European leg of her tour in Paris in May.
She is scheduled to perform multiple nights in the UK, beginning in Scotland on 7 June before wrapping in London on 23 June. Find out how to get tickets to her 13 UK dates here.
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