vale of tears

plural vales of tears

1. idiomaticliteraryoftenpoeticsingularThe world, a place where difficulties and the sorrows of life are felt, especially (Christianity) as a place to be left behind when one dies and goes to heaven.

   While we ſojourn in this vale of Tears and Sorrow, we are detain'd from the bleſſ'd Sight and Enjoyment of God; and kept from the Happineſs of juſt Men made perfect.

   1708 June 3, [Urith Bunchley], A Funeral Sermon upon the Death of Mrs. Urith Bunchley, Daughter to Sir Austin Palgrave, Bart. who Departed this Life May the 21st. Preached at Clavering in Essex, May the 24th, 1708 [Julian calendar]. […] By a Presbyter of the Church of England, London: Printed for S. Bunchley, and are to be sold by J[ohn] Morphew, […], →OCLC, page 10

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   He [Vitus Theodorus] was called to be a Paſtor at Norinberg, his own country, [...] till it pleaſed God to put an end to his labors, by tranſlating him out of this vale of tears into his Everlaſting Kingdom, Anno Chriſti 1549.

   1654, Samuel Clark[e], “The Life of Vitus Theodorus, who Dyed Anno Christi 1549”, in The Marrow of Ecclesiastical History, Contained in the Lives of One Hundred Forty Eight Fathers, Schoolmen, First Reformers, and Modern Divines which Have Flourished in the Church since Christ’s Time to this Present Age: […], 2nd enlarged edition, London: Printed for T. V. and are to be sold by William Roybould […], →OCLC, page 323

   But let us recommend all to god, who alone know what ſhall befal in this vale of tears, this evil world we have here, in which there is ſcarce any thing to be found without ſome mixture of iniquity, impoſture, or knavery.

   1749, Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra, “Of the Strange Adventure, which Befel the Valorous Don Quixote with the Wain or Cart of the Parliament of Death”, in Charles Jarvis, transl., The Life and Exploits of the Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha. Translated from the Original Spanish […], 2nd edition, volume II, London: Printed for J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson and S. Draper […], and R[obert] Dodsley […], →OCLC, page 57

   Body o' me, it makes a man sick of his kind, ashamed to belong to the race of men, to see the envy that abounds in this here sublunary wale^([sic – meaning vale]) of tears!

   1832, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XI, in Eugene Aram. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 192

   We must not call earth a vale of tears. It is neither pious to do so, nor in any respect proper. We might as well, nay, with far greater propriety, call it a field of laughter.

   1853, Leigh Hunt, “[Exercises of the Heart in Its Duties and Aspirations.] XXI. Of Tears and Laughter.”, in The Religion of the Heart. A Manual of Faith and Duty. […], London: John Chapman, […], →OCLC, page 61

   I excused myself and dropped to the rear of the procession, sad at heart, willing to go hence from this troubled life, this vale of tears, this brief day of broken rest, of cloud and storm, of weary struggle and monotonous defeat; and yet shrinking from the change, as remembering how long eternity is, and how many have wended thither who know that anecdote.

   1889, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “The Pilgrims”, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles L. Webster & Company, →OCLC, page 260

2. idiomaticliteraryoftenpoeticA particular place of sorrow or suffering.

   If, friendleſs, in a vale of tears I ſtray, / Where briers wound, and thorns perplex my way, / Still let my ſteady ſoul thy goodneſs ſee, / And with ſtrong confidence lay hold on thee; [...]

   1772, Anna Lætitia Aikin [i.e., Anna Laetitia Barbauld], “An Address to the Deity”, in Poems, 3rd corrected edition, London: Printed for Joseph Johnson, […], published 1773, →OCLC, page 128

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   That, in this pilgrimage of ſeventy years, / O'er rocks of perils, and through vales of tears, / Deſtin'd to march, our doubtful ſteps we tend, / Tir'd with the toil, yet fearful of its end: [...]

   a. 1722, Matthew Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World”, in The Poetical Works of Matthew Prior, Esq. […], Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell and Son, […], published 1793, →OCLC; republished in A Complete Edition of the Poets of Great Britain, volume VII, London: Printed for Iohn & Arthur Arch, […]; Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfute and I. Mundell & Co., 1793, →OCLC, book I (Knowledge), page 473, column 2

   But though life's valley be a vale of tears, / A brighter ſcene beyond that vale appears, / Whoſe glory with a light that never fades, / Shoots between ſcattered rocks and opening ſhades, / And while it ſhows the land the ſoul deſires, / The language of the land ſhe ſeeks, inſpires.

   1782, William Cowper, “Conversation”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 256

   Jerusalem is the city of tombs; the valleys of Halcedoma and Jehoshephat are covered with them; and the living appear to have no other task assigned to them than that of keeping watch over these deposits of ashes. [...] Such are these places of lamentations—these vales of tears—these vast repositories of death.

   1821, [Louise Demont], chapter XLII, in Voyages and Travels of Her Majesty, Caroline Queen of Great Britain: […], London: Printed for and published by Jones & Co. […], →OCLC, page 662

   [I]n the New World, Christianity had provided the major vehicle of cultural expression for the slaves. It could not be denied them in a Christian country—and it provided them with solace in their "vale of tears," guiding them through "the valley of the shadow."

   1992, Kwame Anthony Appiah, “The Invention of Africa”, in In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture, New York, N.Y.; Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 23