Текст пісні
A little maiden climbs 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 soon will know
Listen 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 achin' if you could read them all
Many's the fond hope that's vanished after the ball
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 water, leaving the room
When I returned, pet, there stood a man
Kissing my sweetheart as lovers can
Down went the glass, pet, broken the fall
Just like my heart was 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 achin' if you could read them all
Many's the fond hope that's vanished after the ball
Many years have gone by, I have not 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, just at the break of dawn
After the dance is ended and all the stars are gone
Many's the heart that's achin' if you could read them all
Many's the fond hope that's vanished after the ball
Many's the fond hope that's vanished after the ball