A little maiden climb
s an old man's knee
Beg s for a story, do uncle please
Why are you lonely?
Why do you roam?
Have you no sweetheart?
Have you no home?
I had a sweetheart long, long ago
Why we were not wed,
you soon will know.
List to my story, I'll tell it all.
I broke her heart, pet, after the ball.
After the ball is over,
just at the break of dawn
After the dance is ended
and all the stars are gone
Many's the heart that's aching
if you could read them all
Many's a fond hope
that's vanished after the fall
Low lights were shining
in the big ballroom
Softly the organ was playing a tune
There stood my sweetheart, my love, my own,
I wished some more to live in the moon.
When I returned pet,
there stood a man
Kissing my sweetheart
as lovers can
Down went the glass pet,
broke in the fall
Just like my heart was after the fall
After the ball is over,
just at the break of dawn
After the dance is ended
and all the stars are gone
Many's the heart that's aching
if you could read them all
Many's the fond hope
that's vanished af ter the fall
Many years have gone by,
I have not wept
True to my first love, though she is dead
She tried to tell me, tried to explain
I would not listen, pleading in vain
One day a letter came from this man
He was her brother, no letter ran
That's why I'm lonely, no home at all
I broke her heart then, after the ball
After the ball is over,
just at the break of dawn
After the band is ended
and all the stars are gone
Many's the heart that's aching
if you could read them all
Many's the fond hope
that's vanished after the fall
Many's a fond hope
that's vanished after the ball.