Description and Setting: An Introduction

This week we'll read and write descriptions and look at successful fictional settings.  As an introduction to setting and word choice, look at these two introductory passages.  The first one was written by Edgar Allan Poe in his famous short story "The Fall of the House of Usher."  The second is a re-phrasing of Poe's words. Why is Poe's description more memorable?

During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively 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.

Throughout a quiet, overcast autumn day, when gray clouds lay soft and low in the sky, I had been enjoying a solitary ride through an unremarkable expanse of countryside, and after a time found myself, as twilight faded to velvet dusk, within view of the unhappy House of Usher. 

(borrowed from http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-goal/improve-my-writing/enrich-your-descriptions).