a/the/this vale of tears
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha/the/this vale of tearsa/the/this vale of tears literaryDIFFICULTan expression used to mean the difficulties of life → valeExamples from the Corpusa/the/this vale of tears• The world is a vale of tears, a giant ball of dung.• We all know what next occurred-and here we all are, in this vale of tears.