A little maiden climbed an old man's knee
Begs 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 will soon know.
List to my story, I'll tell it all,
I broke her heart then, 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 is the heart tha'ts aching,
If you could read them all;
Many the hopes that have vanished
After the ball.

"Low lights were shining in the grand ballroom,
Softly the organ was playing the tunes.
There stood my sweetheart, my love, my own -
'I wished some water; leave me alone.'
When I returned, dear, there stood a man,
Kissing my sweetheart, as lovers can.
Down went the glass, pet, broken the fall
Just as my heart was, after the ball."
After the ball is over . . . .

"Many years have gone by, I've never wed
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 - the 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 . . . .