How The Pilgrim's Progress drew on Psalms
A documented line of influence: John Bunyan demonstrably engaged David’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
Psalms
David · c. 500 BCE
BibleThe influenced
The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan · 1678
EnlightenmentRelevance
7/10
On The Pilgrim's Progress’s page
- Bunyan stages Christian's darkest passage as a literal walk through Psalm 23's 'valley of the shadow of death' — the verse is quoted right on the page
- The escape from the Slough of Despond is Psalm 40:2 made into scenery: Help sets Christian on 'sound ground,' the psalm's 'feet upon a rock'
- Bunyan cited the Psalms in his margins throughout; reading them first lets you hear the verses he's dramatizing into terrain
On Psalms’s page
- Bunyan built his allegory on the Psalms line by line, citing them in his margins
- The Slough of Despond resolves on Psalm 40:2 — Help sets Christian on 'sound ground,' the verse's 'feet upon a rock'
- And Christian survives the Valley of the Shadow of Death by reciting Psalm 23 — the verse quoted on the page becomes the literal landscape he walks through