Slough of Despond

The Slough of Despond (/ˈslaʊ əv dɨˈspɒnd/; "swamp of despair") is a deep bog in John Bunyan's allegory The Pilgrim's Progress, into which the protagonist Christian sinks under the weight of his sins and his sense of guilt for them.

It is described in the text:

Bunyan likely derived some of his images in The Pilgrim's Progress from his own world. In this instance the "Slough of Despond" may have been inspired by Squitch Fen, a wet and marshy area near his cottage in Harrowden, Bedfordshire, which he had to cross on his way to church in Elstow, or "The Souls' Slough" on the Great North Road between Tempsford and Biggleswade.

Allusions in other literature

Flood (disambiguation)

A flood is an overflow or accumulation of an expanse of water that submerges land.

Flood(s), The Flood, Flooded or Flooding may also refer to:

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Media and entertainment

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Gaming

Literature

The Flood (Stravinsky)

The Flood: A musical play (1962) is a short biblical drama by Igor Stravinsky on the allegory of Noah, originally written as a work for television. It contains singing, spoken dialogue, and ballet sequences. It is in Stravinsky's late, serial style.

The work was premiered in the United States on the CBS Television Network on 14 June 1962, a production conducted by Robert Craft and choreographed by George Balanchine. Dramatic actors participating in the work included Laurence Harvey (Narrator), Sebastian Cabot (Noah), and Elsa Lanchester (Noah's Wife, which Lanchester played with a Cockney accent). Robert Craft also conducted the first staged performance, in Hamburg on 30 April 1963.

Text

The narrative of The Flood juxtaposes the story of the Creation with that of Noah. The text was compiled by Robert Craft using material from Genesis and the York and Chester cycles of mystery plays. Excerpts from the Te Deum are sung by the chorus.

Scoring

The work is scored for tenor soloist (Lucifer/Satan), two bass soloists (God), several spoken parts (a narrator, Satan, Eve, Noah, a caller, Noah's wife, son of Noah), chorus (SAT) and a large orchestra of 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 cors anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, xylorimba, 3 tom-toms, harp, celesta, piano and strings.

L'Inondation

L'Inondation (The Flood) is an 1880 novella by Émile Zola. Set in the village of Saint-Jory, several miles up the Garonne from Toulouse, it is the story of a family tragedy, told by its patriarch, seventy-year-old Louis Roubien.

Plot summary

On a beautiful May day, the Garonne floods, washing away all the bridges; ruining nearly two thousand houses; drowning hundreds; and leaving twenty thousand starving to death. The novella describes the immediate impact this flood has on one household.

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Slough

Slough (ⁱ/ˈslaʊ/) is a town in Berkshire, England, about 20 miles (30 kilometres) west of central London. It is bisected by the A4 and the Great Western Main Line. In 2011, the population of Slough was 140,200 and the most ethnically diverse in the United Kingdom outside London, with the highest proportion of religious adherents in England.Historically part of Buckinghamshire, Slough is home to the Slough Trading Estate, the largest industrial estate in single private ownership in Europe.

History

The first recorded uses of the name occur as Slo in 1196, Sloo in 1336, and Le Slowe, Slowe or Slow in 1437. It first seems to have applied to a hamlet between Upton to the east and Chalvey to the west, roughly around the "Crown Crossroads" where the road to Windsor (now the A332) met the Great West Road. The Domesday Survey of 1086 refers to Upton, and a wood for 200 pigs, worth £15. During the 13th century, King Henry III had a palace at Cippenham. Parts of Upton Court were built in 1325, while St Mary the Virgin Church in Langley was probably built in the late 11th or early 12th century, though it has been rebuilt and enlarged several times.