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A little maiden climbed an old man's knee |
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Begs for a story - \"Do, uncle, please!\" |
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Why are you lonely; why do you roam? |
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Have you no sweetheart; have you no home?\" |
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\"I had a sweetheart, long long ago; |
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Why we were not wed, you will soon know. |
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List to my story, I'll tell it all, |
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I broke her heart then, after the ball.\" |
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After the ball is over, |
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Just at the break of dawn |
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After the dance is ended; |
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And all the stars are gone; |
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Many is the heart tha'ts aching, |
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If you could read them all; |
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Many the hopes that have vanished |
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After the ball. |
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\"Low lights were shining in the grand ballroom, |
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Softly the organ was playing the tunes. |
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There stood my sweetheart, my love, my own - |
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'I wished some water; leave me alone.' |
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When I returned, dear, there stood a man, |
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Kissing my sweetheart, as lovers can. |
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Down went the glass, pet, broken the fall |
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Just as my heart was, after the ball.\" |
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After the ball is over . . . . |
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\"Many years have gone by, I've never wed |
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True to my first love, though she is dead. |
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She tried to tell me, tried to explain; |
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I would not listen, pleading in vain. |
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One day a letter came from this man, |
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He was her brother - the letter ran. |
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That's why I'm lonely, no home at all; |
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I broke her heart then after the ball.\" |
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After the ball is over . . . . |