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 soon will know.
Leads to my story, I'll tell it all,
I broke her heart then, after the ball."

CHORUS
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 big ballroom,
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 . . . .