Language: en
Meaning: (in thesingular)Theworld, aplacewheredifficultiesand thesorrowsoflifearefelt, especially(Christianity)as a place to beleft behindwhen onediesand goes toheaven.1654,Samuel Clark[e], “The Life ofVitus Theodorus, who DyedAnno Christi1549”, inThe 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,page323:He [Vitus Theodorus] was called to be a Paſtor atNorinberg, his own country, [...] till it pleaſed God to put an end to his labors, by tranſlating him out of thisvale of tearsinto his Everlaſting Kingdom,Anno Chriſti1549.1708June 4,[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 byJ[ohn]Morphew,[…],→OCLC,page10:While we ſojourn in thisvale of Tearsand Sorrow, we are detain'd from the bleſſ'd Sight and Enjoyment of God; and kept from the Happineſsof juſt Men made perfect.1749,Miguel Cervantes de Saavedra, “Of the Strange Adventure, which Befel the ValorousDon Quixotewith 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 forJ[acob]and R[ichard]Tonsonand S. Draper[…], andR[obert]Dodsley[…],→OCLC,page57:But let us recommend all to god, who alone know what ſhall befal in thisvale 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.1832, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XI, inEugene Aram. A Tale.[…], volume I, London:Henry ColburnandRichard Bentley,[…],→OCLC, book I,page192: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 sublunarywale[sic– meaningvale]of tears!1853,Leigh Hunt, “[Exercises of the Heart in Its Duties and Aspirations.]XXI. Of Tears and Laughter.”, inThe Religion of the Heart. A Manual of Faith and Duty.[…], London:John Chapman,[…],→OCLC,page61:We must not call earth avale 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.1889,Mark Twain[pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “The Pilgrims”, inA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.:Charles L. Webster & Company,→OCLC,page260:I excused myself and dropped to the rear of the procession, sad at heart, willing to go hence from this troubled life, thisvale 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.1983,Umberto Eco, “In which Adso Receives the Confidences of Salvatore, which Cannot be Summarized in a Few Words, but which Cause Him Long and Concerned Meditation”, inWilliam Weaver, transl.,The Name of the Rose: Translated from the Italian, London:Secker & Warburg,→ISBN; republished London:Vintage Books,2004,→ISBN,page180:Driven by such a hope, as if refusing to recognize this world as avale of tearswhere (as they taught me) even injustice is foreordained by Providence to maintain the balance of things, whose design often eludes us, Salvatore journeyed through various lands, from his native Montferrat toward Liguria, then up through Provence into the lands of the King of France.1999, Dwain Campbell, “Prologue”, inTales from the Frozen Ocean, St. John’s, Nfld.: Jesperson Publishing,→ISBN,page10:So it was steady as she goes as Sally was hustled into bed, and on the stroke of twelve a fourth Aintree child entered thisvale of tears.2005, Daniel Hillel, “Epilogue: The Lasting Relevance of Early Ecological Influences”, inThe Natural History of the Bible: An Environmental Exploration of the Hebrew Scriptures, New York, N.Y.; Chichester, West Sussex:Columbia University Press,→ISBN,page227:As we devour the Earth's resources and despoil the environment, we are driving ourselves into a metaphoricvale of tears.; A particular place of sorrow orsuffering.a.1722,Matthew Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World”, inThe Poetical Works of Matthew Prior, Esq.[…], Edinburgh: Printed by Mundell and Son,[…], published1793,→OCLC; republished inA 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),page473, column 2:That, in this pilgrimage of ſeventy years, / O'er rocks of perils, and throughvales of tears, / Deſtin'd to march, our doubtful ſteps we tend, / Tir'd with the toil, yet fearful of its end: [...]1772, Anna Lætitia Aikin [i.e.,Anna Laetitia Barbauld], “An Address to the Deity”, inPoems, 3rd corrected edition, London: Printed forJoseph Johnson,[…], published1773,→OCLC,page128:If, friendleſs, in avale of tearsI 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; [...]1782,William Cowper, “Conversation”, inPoems, London:[…]J[oseph]Johnson,[…],→OCLC,page256:But though life's valley be avale 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.1821,[Louise Demont], chapter XLII, inVoyages and Travels of Her Majesty,Caroline Queen of Great Britain:[…], London: Printed for and published by Jones & Co.[…],→OCLC,page662: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—thesevales of tears—these vast repositories of death.1992,Kwame Anthony Appiah, “The Invention of Africa”, inIn My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture, New York, N.Y.; Oxford, Oxfordshire:Oxford University Press,→ISBN,page23:[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."
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