Oranges and Lemons

Personified Bells

In this illustration, personified bells act out the actions which they “say” in the rhyme; the bell labeled Old Bailey, for example, appears to be asking Shoreditch “when will you pay me?”. Although personification of bells makes this illustration unique, two other major points also stand out. One is the linear arrangement of the bells along what appears to be a rope; following the line of the rope as it curves meets every bell in turn. Finally, this is the only illustration presented here which acknowledges the violent ending of the rhyme, showing a walking candlestick followed by a walking hatchet at the end of the rope. Although both of these objects have arms and legs, neither has a face, setting them apart from the rest of the rhyme just as they are metrically set apart in the text. (The profile-like shape on the left side of the hatchet could potentially be construed as a face, but even if so, it is different enough from the more realistically-drawn faces of the bells that this point still holds.)