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FEATURE MUSIC

OUR PREDICTIONS for The Tortured Poets Department

EDGAR ALLEN POE Who’s the most tortured of all the poets? That would be the

lupine themes and phrases Taylor might borrow to reference this revered literary figure. Look out for: A woman requiring her own room and space, especially in which to write ( A Room of One’s Own , 1929 essay). Anyone called ’Mrs Dalloway’ ( Mrs Dalloway , 1925 novel). A person walking into a river with their pockets full of stones (Woolf’s death). THE BRONTËS Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Brontë are the triumvirate of mid-1800s exploratory feminist authorship. Some eagle-eyed Swift fans have found (again, wobbly) allusions to the sisters’ works in Taylor’s lyrics (such as Emily’s novel Wuthering Heights inspiring Taylor’s 2010 song Enchanted , or 2020 track Invisible String

OG (Original Goth) himself: Poe! We’re willing to bet a few clams that somewhere on TTPD you’ll find references to the Boston writer’s tales of the macabre and the mysterious. Look out for: Tapping at a chamber or bedroom door ( The Raven , 1845 poem). The word ’nevermore’, especially if it’s repeated (as above). A ’tell-tale heart’ or a disembodied, hidden heart that beats loudly ( The Tell-Tale Heart , 1843 short story).

catalogue, Getaway Car most obviously takes its cues from real life crim couple Bonnie and Clyde, whose debaucherous spree of robbery and murder terrorised the southern US states in the early 1930s. It fits (figuratively) with the themes of the album from which it comes, Swift’s 2019 effort Reputation . But in another allegory with a twist, Swift opens the track with a cute spin on the first lines of Charles Dickens’ 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities , which read: ”It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Contrasts and contradictions were the name of Dickens’ game in his story of London and Paris during the French Revolution (the late 1700s), and its precisely those teetering extremes Swift aimed to evoke with this song. ROBERT FROST Folklore is Illicit Affairs , and within its lyrics Taylor nods to a timeless piece of poetry by Pulitzer-winning American poet Robert Frost. It’s his 1915 piece The Road Not Taken that we’re looking at, and in it Frost writes: ”Two roads diverged in a wood, and I /I took the one less travelled by/ And that has made all the difference.” Yes, on its surface, Taylor’s couplet is about hiding a clandestine relationship… but ”Take the road less travelled by Tell yourself you can always stop” Illicit Affairs, 2020 The tenth track from 2020 iso-album

SYLVIA PLATH There are Swifties who are adamant they can already string together a bunch of wobbly comparisons between Taylor’s lyrics and American poet, novelist, and short story writer Sylvia Plath.

But none of them are direct, relying only on the fact that both artists are often called ’confessional.’ We think Tay’s going to make some more explicit references. Look out for: A ’bell jar’ or a bell-shaped, glass container which covers something ( The Bell Jar , 1963 novel). Hiding in a hole in a cellar (as above). A peanut gallery or a ’peanut-crunching’ audience ( Lady Lazarus , 1965 poem). VIRGINIA WOOLF London-born writer Woolf was one of the sparkling talents of the modernist 20th century movement, and wrote myriad essays, short stories, novels, and autobiographical pieces. Oh, and Nicole

Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska in 2011’s Jane Eyre

Kidman wore a fake nose to play her in 2002 drama The Hours (and then won 'Best Actress'). We weren’t surprised to see the TTPD track list includes a song named Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? (a reference to Edward Albee’s 1962 play

referencing a particularly beautiful line in Charlotte’s gothic novel Jane Eyre ), but c’mon, Taylor - you can get more literal than that! There are a few stand out Brontëisms that might be hidden within TTPD . Look out for: A ripped wedding veil, a handsome stranger falling off a horse, or a madwoman hidden in an attic ( Jane Eyre , 1847 novel). A ghost at the window begging to be let in, or someone ’burning too bright for this world’ ( Wuthering Heights , 1847 novel). Locks of hair from two lovers entwined in a locket (as above).

it could also mean that the ’road less travelled’ is the one paved with the bad idea of romantically pursuing someone who’s already taken. Needless to say, the likeness is too close not to believe our gal was smitten by Frost’s beautiful lines.

The Tortured Poets Department by Taylor Swift is out April 19 via Universal.

Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf in 2002’s The Hours

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ), so here are more

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