What is a silver bird?

Question

I'm reading the ee cummings poem "i sing of olaf glad and big". I need to annotate for school, but I don't under stand what the term "silver bird" is? The poem is about the military, so i figure it is some kind of military term.
Here's the stanza:
"straightway the silver bird looked grave
(departing hurriedly to shave)"

and the entire poem can be found here: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMI…

if anyone can help, that would be great! thanks!

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

I don't know how reliable this might be, but you might find your analysis here: http://everything2.com/title/i+sing+of+o…

Good luck!

Answer 2

Silver bird usually refers to an airplane. It looks like a "silver bird".

Answer 3

A silver eagle is an emblem of rank worn by an Army colonel. So the line is saying that Olaf's colonel looked grave.