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，一个天气阴沉、昏暗而又寂静的日子，低压的云层笼罩着大地。整整一天，我独自骑着马，在一条异常沉闷的乡间小路上行进。暮色降临时分，凄凉的厄谢尔宅第终于呈现在我的眼前。但是，不知出于什么？ 因，第一眼望见这幢房子，我就被一种令人难以忍受的阴郁抓住了。我说难以忍受，是因为往常即使人们看到荒山野岭或其他令人生畏的自然景象时，也可能产生一些诗意，心中或许有几分快感。此时此地的情景在我心中却丝毫引不起此种感情。