Poetic justice: Taylor Swift distant relative of Emily Dickinson, Ancestry.com reveals
All relative: Pop superstar Taylor Swift, left, is a distant relative to iconic American poet Emily Dickinson. (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
By Bob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
There may be some deeper meaning to Taylor Swift’s upcoming album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” She is a distant relative to one of America’s most recognized female poets.
Talk about karma. Swift is Emily Dickinson’s sixth cousin, three times removed, Ancestry.com revealed on Monday. The genealogy company revealed on the “Today” show that the “Anti-Hero” singer and the “Hope’ is the thing with feathers” poet are descended from the same 17th-century English immigrant.
According to Ancestry, the immigrant is Swift’s ninth-great-grandfather and Dickinson’s sixth-great-grandfather, the Los Angeles Times reported. The man originally settled in 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,” Ancestry told “Today.”
Ancestry did not reveal the man’s name.
“Guess we can truly say that all’s fair in love and poetry,” Ancestry wrote in a caption to an Instagram post unveiling its discovery.
Dickinson, who was born in 1830, lived in Amherst, Massachusetts, the Times reported. A prolific writer, Dickinson was not recognized until after her death in 1886.
According to the Academy of American Poets, the first volume of Dickinson’s work was published posthumously in 1890 and the last in 1955.
Her work includes short, lyrical poems including “Success is counted sweetest,” “Wild nights -- Wild nights!” and “Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” according to the Times.
Swift has publicly referenced Dickinson while speaking about the types of lyrics she writes for her songs, “Today” reported.
“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 said in 2022 when she received the Songwriter-Artist of the Decade Award from the Nashville Songwriters Association International.
Swifties have also speculated that the artist’s ninth studio album, “Evermore,” was inspired by Dickinson.
This is not the first time Ancestry has discovered that two famous Americans were related, according to “Today.” In 2019, the company revealed that two-time Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks, who played Mister Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” was a sixth cousin of the late children’s television host.
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years Here are some memorable photos of Taylor Swift through the years. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for MTV)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2006: Country singer Taylor Swift arrives at the 41st annual Academy of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 23, 2006, in Las Vegas. (Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2007: Music artist Taylor Swift performs during the Academy of Country Music New Artists' Party for a Cause show at the MGM Grand Conference Center on May 14, 2007, in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2008: Singer Taylor Swift arrives at the 50th annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on February 10, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2009: Kanye West (left) jumps onstage after Taylor Swift (center) won the "Best Female Video" award during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall on September 13, 2009, in New York City. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2010: Musicians Kary Perry and Taylor Swift during the 52nd annual Grammy Awards Salute to Icons Honoring Doug Morris held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 30, 2010, in Beverly Hills, California. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2011: Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez perform onstage during the "Speak Now World Tour" at Madison Square Garden on November 22, 2011, in New York City. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2012: Taylor Swift performs onstage during the MTV EMA's 2012 at Festhalle Frankfurt on November 11, 2012, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images for MTV)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2013: Taylor Swift arrives at the 55th annual Grammy Awards on February 10, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2014: Musician Taylor Swift attends the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" Costume Institute Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 5, 2014, in New York City. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2015: Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian attend the 57th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on February 8, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images for NARAS)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2016: Recording artist Taylor Swift attends the 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Graydon Carter at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 28, 2016, in Beverly Hills, California. (Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2017: Musician Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Super Saturday Night Concert at Club Nomadic on February 4, 2017, in Houston. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images for DIRECTV)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2018: Taylor Swift attends the 2018 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on October 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2019: Taylor Swift performs during the TIME 100 Gala 2019 Dinner at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 23, 2019, in New York City. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TIME)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2020: Taylor Swift attends the 2020 Sundance Film Festival "Miss Americana" Premiere at Eccles Center Theatre on January 23, 2020, in Park City, Utah. (Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2021: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff, and Aaron Dessner accept the Album of the Year award for "Folklore" onstage during the 63rd annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center on March 14, 2021, in Los Angeles. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2021: Taylor Swift attends the "All Too Well" New York Premiere on November 12, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) (DIMITRIOS.KAMBOURIS@GETTYIMAGES.COM/Getty Images)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2021: Writer-director Taylor Swift attends a premiere for the short film "All Too Well" at AMC Lincoln Square 13 on Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) (Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2022: Taylor Swift speaks during a graduation ceremony for New York University at Yankee Stadium in New York, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig/AP)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years 2022: Taylor Swift waves to graduates as she participates in a graduation ceremony for New York University at Yankee Stadium in New York, Wednesday, May 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (Seth Wenig/AP)
Photos: Taylor Swift through the years Taylor Swift performs onstage during the Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour at Lumen Field on July 22, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management) (Mat Hayward/TAS23/Getty Images for TAS Rights Mana)