Twenty-One — Summary

The speaker is waiting for someone, apparently in a public place where people pass and glance with curiosity. They don’t mind being noticed or wondered about. The tone is calm and unhurried: the other person may arrive or may not, and the speaker refuses to be anxious about it. That final line, “What I have done, I have done,” gives the moment weight—there is a past here that can’t be changed, and the speaker seems at peace with it. The title hints at youth or a turning point, which makes the patience feel even more striking. The mood is quiet, still, and a little mysterious, as if we are seeing someone paused between hope and acceptance.