Turns out, Taylor Swift isn’t the only tortured poet in her family tree. According to a new genealogy study from the company Ancestry, the 34-year-old pop star is distantly related to American literary icon Emily Dickinson, whom Swift can now call “cousin.”
More precisely, the two women are sixth cousins, three times removed. Ancestry’s findings, which were announced Monday (March 4), show that both Swift and the poet — who was born in 1830 and passed away at 55 years old in 1886 — are descended from the same 17th century English immigrant. The early settler of Windsor, Conn., was the “Anti-Hero” singer’s ninth great-grandfather and Dickinson’s sixth great-grandfather.
The musician’s ancestors reportedly stayed in Connecticut for six generations before moving to northwestern Pennsylvania, where they married into the Swift lineage. Many years later, Scott and Andrea Swift welcomed their firstborn daughter on Dec. 13, 1989, in West Reading before eventually moving to Nashville — and the rest was history.
News of Swift’s connection to one of history’s most acclaimed poets comes at an uncanny time in the Grammy winner’s career, given that her next album is titled The Tortured Poets Department. The 16-track LP, along with its four exclusive bonus versions, arrives April 19.
Swift announced the final version of Tortured Poets at her March 3 Eras Tour show in Singapore, revealing that the fourth issue will be titled “The Black Dog.” It follows announcements for “The Manuscript,” “The Albatross” and “The Bolter,” each of which include one exclusive bonus track.
During the rollout cycle for her new record, Swift has been referring to herself as “The Chairman of the Tortured Poets Department.”
“And so I enter into evidence/ My tarnished coat of arms/ My muses, acquired like bruises/ My talismans and charms,” reads a handwritten note posted by Swift after she first announced the album. “All’s fair in love and poetry …”
Ancestry also shared that note in announcing the pop superstar’s connection to Dickinson in an Instagram post Monday.
