在自然威力之下
Under the Power of Nature
[美国]埃德加·爱伦·坡/Edgar Allan Poe
第29章 那是一棵生命的常青树 (15)
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.