Writeacher,I have a question on the sonnet I rephrased yesterday. I hope you can check it.
"And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard..."
He sees the summer's crops tied (up is possible) in bales and taken to the barn as if the harvested summer were an old white-bearded man being carried to his grave.
I left out.. and taken on the bier??
"taken on the bier" pretty much means "carried to his grave"
http://www.answers.com/bier
It seems like you have rephrased the lines from the sonnet correctly. However, you mentioned that you left out the phrase "and taken on the bier." Including this phrase would complete the original lines from the sonnet.
The phrase "and taken on the bier" adds to the metaphor of the harvested summer being carried to its end. The word "bier" refers to a platform or a framework used to carry a corpse to a funeral or burial. By using this imagery, the poet emphasizes the idea that summer, represented by the crops tied in bales, is coming to an end, similar to the passing of a person. Including this phrase enhances the visual and metaphorical representation of the scene being described.