any serious depression or discouragement. From Pilgrim's Progress, a novel written as an allegory by John Bunyan (1628 - 1688, English author). The story is about the spiritual life o f man. Every character, location or incident in the story bears a picturecreating name, such as the Slough of Despond, a deep swamp in which the maincharacter gets bogged down and gets rescued by another character named Help. —PDC Volume 3 Approved Glossary