Weird one real quick: Taylor Swift and Emily Dickinson are related, it turns out.
The wonderfully weird revelation that these two legends of American poetry are in fact sixth cousins, three times removed comes by way of the genealogy company Ancestry, speaking to TODAY.
"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."
Taylor Swift is related to poet Emily Dickinson, according to Ancestry. They are sixth cousins, three times removed. pic.twitter.com/X6x0tEzJ7tMarch 4, 2024
As you might imagine, fans had a field day with this news over on Twitter.
"She’s truly a tortured poet," quipped one person, as a reference to Swift's upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department.
"The apple don't fall far from the tree," said someone else.
"that talent had to come from somewhere now we know," remarked another.
TODAY also pointed out that Swift once compared herself to a relative of Dickinson's, joking in 2022, "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."
FYI, Dickinson—who lived between 1830 and 1886—is widely regarded as one of the greatest poets in American history. Swift, as for her, is seen as one of the greatest lyricists of her generation, often weaving storytelling and clever literary devices into her lyrics, as well as all sorts of cultural references, such as nods to The Great Gatsby and The Scarlet Letter.
So in short, the relationship between Swift and Dickinson makes all sorts of sense.
