vale of tears

vale of tears

Life or the world at large regarded as a source of sorrow, strife, or tragedy. I'm only glad that she is at peace and can leave this vale of tears behind. If you convince yourself that life is nothing but a vale of tears, you will end up creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
See also: of, tear, vale
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

(this) vale of tears

Fig. the earth; mortal life on earth. (A vale is a literary word for valley.) When it comes time for me to leave this vale of tears, I hope I can leave some worthwhile memories behind. Uncle Fred left this vale of tears early this morning.
See also: of, tear, vale
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

vale of tears

the world regarded as a scene of trouble or sorrow. literary
This phrase dates from the mid 16th century; earlier variants included vale of trouble , vale of weeping , and vale of woe .
1997 Shetland Times Then by God's grace we'll meet again, Beyond this vale of tears.
See also: of, tear, vale
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • (it's) good to hear your voice
  • good to hear your voice
  • be glad to see the back of (someone or something)
  • be glad to see the back of someone or something
  • be glad, etc. to see the back of somebody/something
  • glad you could come
  • (I'm) (so) glad you could come
  • (boy,) am I glad to see you!
  • Am I glad to see you!
  • so
References in classic literature
She's always saying that she'll be glad when her time comes, and she doesn't want to sojourn any longer in this vale of tears. But when she takes a sick spell there's a fuss!
She gives you the impression that life to her is indeed a vale of tears, and that a smile, never to speak of a laugh, is a frivolity truly reprehensible.
"Very likely," said Sancho; "for her beauty bewildered me as much as her ugliness did your worship; but let us leave it all to God, who alone knows what is to happen in this vale of tears, in this evil world of ours, where there is hardly a thing to be found without some mixture of wickedness, roguery, and rascality.
She represented to her in lively colours, that if she (Mrs V.) had not, in steering her course through this vale of tears, been supported by a strong principle of duty which alone upheld and prevented her from drooping, she must have been in her grave many years ago; in which case she desired to know what would have become of that errant spirit (meaning the locksmith), of whose eye she was the very apple, and in whose path she was, as it were, a shining light and guiding star?
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.
Who calls it a vale of tears? Methinks it is but the darkness in our minds that bringeth gloom to the world.
It always happens so in this vale of tears, there is an inevitability about such things which we can only wonder at, deplore, and bear as we best can.
Dear Sir,--Pursuant of our policy, with which we flatter ourselves you are already well versed, we beg to state that we shall give a passport from this Vale of Tears to Inspector Bying, with whom, because of our attentions, you have become so well acquainted.
A "vale of tears" refers to the tribulations of life that Christian doctrine says are left behind only when one leaves the world and enters heaven.
Second, at the DMV the employees are anything but courteous and eager to please; on the contrary, they act as if working at the DMV is simply their unfortunate destiny in this vale of tears, and the dreary weight of their jobs is visibly almost more than they can bear.
Virgin of Juquila, "to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears."
The more the IOM engages inside Libya, the more we learn that it is a vale of tears for many migrants.
Amid EastEnders' vale of tears psycho kid Bobby gets scarier and he shoves his stepmum down the stairs.
I have returned, after leaving my mother to perish on the mountain, to this vale of tears where we are, to confront the unendurable pain of losing her.
Like theirs, her style is deceptively simple and direct, and the vale of tears in which some of her characters reside is never so deep that a rich chuckle at a foolish person's foolishness cannot be heard.''