I 0
know not how it was -- but , with the first glimpse of the building 2
, a sense of insufferable gloom pervaded my 0
spirit .
I 0
say insufferable ; for the feeling was unrelieved by any of that half-pleasureable , because poetic , sentiment , with which the mind usually receives even the sternest natural images of the desolate or terrible .
I 0
looked upon the scene before me 0
-- upon the mere house 2
, and the simple landscape features of the domain 2
-- upon the bleak walls -- upon the vacant eye-like windows -- upon a few rank sedges -- and upon a few white trunks of decayed trees -- with an utter depression of soul which I 0
can compare to no earthly sensation more properly than to the after-dream of the reveller 4
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 dreariness of thought which no goading of the imagination could torture into aught of the sublime .
What was it -- I 0
paused to think -- what was it that so unnerved me 0
in the contemplation of ?
It was a mystery all insoluble ; nor could I 0
grapple with the shadowy fancies that crowded upon me 0
as I 0
pondered .
I 0
was forced 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 5
, still the analysis of this power lies among considerations beyond our 6
depth .
It was possible , I 0
reflected , that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the scene , of the details of the picture , would be sufficient to modify , or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful impression ; and , acting upon this idea , I 0
reined my 0
horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in unruffled lustre by
the dwelling 2
7 , and gazed down -- but with a shudder even more thrilling than before -- upon the remodelled and inverted images of the grey sedge , and the ghastly tree-stems , and the vacant and eye-like windows .
Nevertheless , in this mansion of gloom 2
I 0
now proposed to myself 0
a sojourn of some weeks .
, Roderick Usher 12
, had been one of
my 0
boon companions in boyhood
8 36 ; but many years had elapsed since our 9
last meeting .
A letter , however , had lately reached me 0
in a distant part of
the country 11
10 -- a letter from him 12
-- which , in its wildly importunate nature , had admitted of no other than a personal reply .
The MS gave evidence of nervous agitation .
The writer 12
spoke of acute bodily illness -- of a mental disorder which oppressed him 12
-- and of an earnest desire to see me 0
, as his 12
best , and indeed his 12
only personal friend
0 , with a view of attempting , by the cheerfulness of my 0
society , some alleviation of his 12
malady .
It was the manner in which all this , and much more , was said -- it was the apparent heart that went with his 12
request -- which allowed me 0
no room for hesitation ; and I 0
accordingly obeyed forthwith what I 0
still considered a very singular summons .
Although , as boys 13
, we 9
had been even intimate associates , yet I 0
really knew little of .
His 12
reserve had been always excessive and habitual .
I 0
was aware , however , that his 12
very ancient family
3 had been noted , time out of mind , for a peculiar sensibility of temperament , displaying itself , through long ages , in many works of exalted art , and manifested , of late , in repeated deeds of munificent yet unobtrusive charity , as well as in a passionate devotion to the intricacies , perhaps even more than to the orthodox and easily recognisable beauties of musical science .
I 0
had learned , too , the very remarkable fact , that the stem of the Usher race 3
, all time-honoured as it was , had put forth , at no period , any enduring branch ; in other words , that the entire family 3
lay in the direct line of descent , and had always , with very trifling and very temporary variation , so lain .
It was this deficiency , I 0
considered , while running over in thought the perfect keeping of the character of the premises 2
with the accredited character of the people 3
, and while speculating upon the possible influence which the one , in the long lapse of centuries , might have exercised upon the other -- it was this deficiency , perhaps , of collateral issue , and the consequent undeviating transmission , from sire 14
to son 15
, of the patrimony with the name , which had , at length , so identified the two as to merge the original title of the estate 2
in the quaint and equivocal appellation of the " " -- an appellation which seemed to include , in the minds of the peasantry who used it 16
, both the family 3
and the family mansion 2
.
I 0
have said that the sole effect of my 0
somewhat childish experiment -- that of looking down within the tarn 7
-- had been to deepen the first singular impression .
There can be no doubt that the consciousness of the rapid increase of my 0
superstition -- for why should I 0
not so term it ?
-- served mainly to accelerate the increase itself .
Such , I 0
have long known , is the paradoxical law of all sentiments having terror as a basis .
And it might have been for this reason only , that , when I 0
again uplifted my 0
eyes to the house itself 2
, from its 2
image in the pool 17
, there grew in my 0
mind a strange fancy -- a fancy so ridiculous , indeed , that I 0
but mention it to show the vivid force of the sensations which oppressed me 0
.
I 0
had so worked upon my 0
imagination as really to believe that about the whole mansion 2
and domain 2
there hung an atmosphere peculiar to themselves and their immediate vicinity -- an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven , but which had reeked up from the decayed trees , and the grey wall , and the silent tarn 7
-- a pestilent and mystic vapour , dull , sluggish , faintly discernible , and leaden-hued .
Shaking off from my 0
spirit what must have been a dream , I 0
scanned more narrowly the real aspect of the building 2
.
Its 2
principal feature seemed to be that of an excessive antiquity .
The discoloration of ages had been great .
Minute fungi overspread the whole exterior 18
, hanging in a fine tangled web-work from the eaves .
Yet all this was apart from any extraordinary dilapidation .
No portion of the masonry had fallen ; and there appeared to be a wild inconsistency between its still perfect adaptation of parts , and the crumbling condition of the individual stones .
In this there was much that reminded me 0
of the specious totality of old wood-work which has rotted for long years in some neglected vault , with no disturbance from the breath of the external air .
Beyond this indication of extensive decay , however , the fabric gave little token of instability .
Perhaps the eye of a scrutinizing observer 19
might have discovered a barely perceptible fissure , which , extending from the roof of the building in front 20
, made its way down the wall in a zigzag direction , until it became lost in the sullen waters of the tarn 21
.
Noticing these things , I 0
rode over a short causeway 22
to the house 2
.
A servant in waiting 23
took my 0
horse , and I 0
entered the Gothic archway of
the hall 25
24 .
A valet , of stealthy step 26
, thence conducted me 0
, in silence , through many dark and intricate passages 27
in my 0
progress to .
Much that I 0
encountered on the way contributed , I 0
know not how , to heighten the vague sentiments of which I 0
have already spoken .
While the objects around me 0
-- while the carvings of the ceilings , the sombre tapestries of the walls , the ebon blackness of the floors , and the phantasmagoric armorial trophies which rattled as I 0
strode , were but matters to which , or to such as which , I 0
had been accustomed from my 0
infancy -- while I 0
hesitated not to acknowledge how familiar was all this -- I 0
still wondered to find how unfamiliar were the fancies which ordinary images were stirring up .
On one of the staircases 29
, I 0
met the physician of
the family 3
30 .
His 30
countenance , I 0
thought , wore a mingled expression of low cunning and perplexity .
He 30
accosted me 0
with trepidation and passed on .
The valet 26
now threw open a door and ushered me 0
into the presence of .
The room in which
I 0
found
myself 0
31 was very large and lofty .
The windows were long , narrow , and pointed , and at so vast a distance from the black oaken floor as to be altogether inaccessible from within .
Feeble gleams of encrimsoned light made their way through the trellised panes , and served to render sufficiently distinct the more prominent objects around ; the eye , however , struggled in vain to reach the remoter angles of the chamber 31
, or the recesses of the vaulted and fretted ceiling .
Dark draperies hung upon the walls .
The general furniture was profuse , comfortless , antique , and tattered .
Many books and musical instruments lay scattered about , but failed to give any vitality to the scene .
I 0
felt that I 0
breathed an atmosphere of sorrow .
An air of stern , deep , and irredeemable gloom hung over and pervaded all .
Upon my 0
entrance , Usher 12
rose from a sofa on which he 12
had been lying at full length , and greeted me 0
with a vivacious warmth which had much in it , I 0
at first thought , of an overdone cordiality -- of the constrained effort of the ennuye man of
the world 33
32 .
A glance , however , at his 12
countenance , convinced me 0
of his 12
perfect sincerity .
We 9
sat down ; and for some moments , while he 12
spoke not , I 0
gazed upon him 12
with a feeling half of pity , half of awe .
Surely , man 34
had never before so terribly altered , in so brief a period , as had Roderick Usher 12
!
It was with difficulty that I 0
could bring myself 0
to admit the identity of the wan being before
me 0
12 with the companion of
my 0
early boyhood
12 .
Yet the character of his 12
face had been at all times remarkable .
A cadaverousness of complexion ; an eye large , liquid , and luminous beyond comparison ; lips somewhat thin and very pallid , but of a surpassingly beautiful curve ; a nose of a delicate Hebrew model , but with a breadth of nostril unusual in similar formations ; a finely-moulded chin , speaking , in its want of prominence , of a want of moral energy ; hair of a more than web-like softness and tenuity ; these features , with an inordinate expansion above the regions of the temple , made up altogether a countenance not easily to be forgotten .
And now in the mere exaggeration of the prevailing character of these features , and of the expression they were wont to convey , lay so much of change that I 0
doubted to whom I 0
spoke .
The now ghastly pallor of the skin , and the now miraculous lustre of the eye , above all things startled and even awed me 0
.
The silken hair , too , had been suffered to grow all unheeded , and as , in its wild gossamer texture , it floated rather than fell about the face , I 0
could not , even with effort , connect its Arabesque expression with any idea of simple humanity .