“You cannot solder an Abyss with air”: Traces of early relationship to mother in the life and poetry of Emily Dickinson1

With a starting point of seeing a poem as a free association unto which the reader might form his/her own associations, the work of Emily Dickinson is discussed from the point of view of early development and relationship to mother. The paper is based on selected poems, letters and chosen parts from the biography of Emily Dickinson. It is argued that the poet seems to have experienced a trauma during the first months of life in the shape of erratic infant care, that caused environmental impingement. Having to react at this early age made the gradual unfolding of a secure feeling of identity precarious and had deep consequences for body-mind development, and for the relationship between inner and outer realities. The theory of Winnicott and his concepts of “going-on-being”, “male and female elements” and impingements are considered. The relationship of Emily Dickinson to her sister-in-law, Sue Gilbert, is seen as important, as the latter had a capacity for being a container of otherwise hidden parts of the poet's inner life. Emily Dickinson's life in isolation, questions of creativity born from experiences of absence and loss and from early bridges broken down, are discussed.