During the whole of a dull， dark， and soundless day in the autumn of the year， when the clouds hung up pressively low in the heavens， I had been passing alone， on horseback， through a singularly dreary tract of country； and at length found myself， as the shades of the evening drew on， within view of the melancholy House of Usher. I knew not how it was but， with the first glimpse of the building， a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my spirit. I say insufferable； for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasurable， because poetic， sentiment with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible， I looked upon the scene before me upon the mere house， and the simple landscape features of the domain， upon the bleak walls， upon the vacant eye like windows， upon a few randy sedges， and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees—with an utter depression of soul which I can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after dream of the reveler upon opium； the bitter lapse into everyday life， the hideous dropping off of the veil. There was an iciness， a sinking， a sickening of the heart， an unredeemed torture into ought of the sublime. What was it I paused to think what was it that so unnerved me in the contemplation of the House of Usher？ It was a mystery all insoluble； nor could I grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me as I pondered. I was forded to fall back upon the unsatisfactory conclusion， that while， beyond doubt， there are combinations of very simple natural objects which have the power of thus affecting us， still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our depth.
那年秋天，一個天氣陰沉、昏暗而又寂靜的日子，低壓的雲層籠罩著大地。整整一天，我獨自騎著馬，在一條異常沉悶的鄉間小路上行進。暮色降臨時分，淒涼的厄謝爾宅第終於呈現在我的眼前。但是，不知出於什麽？ 因，第一眼望見這幢房子，我就被一種令人難以忍受的陰鬱抓住了。我說難以忍受，是因為往常即使人們看到荒山野嶺或其他令人生畏的自然景象時，也可能產生一些詩意，心中或許有幾分快感。此時此地的情景在我心中卻絲毫引不起此種感情。