What does the St. Clements rhyme from the novel 1984 symbolize?

This rhyme, like the snowstorm that Winston Smith
purchases, functions in a number of different ways. We first are introduced to this
popular rhyme in Britain in Chapter 8, when Winston finds the room that he and Julia
will use to conduct their affair and also he finds an old man who is selling relics from
the time before the rise of Big Brother. Note what the man tells Winston about the rhyme
when Winston asks what it was he began to say:

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"Oh - 'Oranges and lemons, says the bells of St
Clement's.' That was a rhyme we had when I was a little boy. How it goes on I don't
remember, but I do know it ended up, 'Here comes a candle to light you to bed, Here
comes a chopper to chop off your head.' It was a kind of dance. They held out their arms
for you to pass under, and when they came to 'Here comes a chopper to chop off your
head' they brought their arms down and caught
you."

Thus we can safely say
that this rhyme functions in two symbolic ways in the novel. Firstly, it is yet another
example of a forgotten world where important facts and childhood rhymes that make up
life have been forgotten and erased from the public consciousness. This of course
highlights the horror of the totalitarian state where anything that is not propaganda
supporting Big Brother is prohibited. Secondly, however, this rhyme foreshadows the fate
of Winston and Julia. Note how it ends: "Here comes a chopper to chop off your head."
Clearly this rhyme is a clear indication of how Winston's attempts to rebel against the
system are doomed to failure.

You might find it useful to
compare this rhyme and how it is used symbolically to the snowstorm, which Smith
purchases just before hearing this rhyme. Both act as tantalising glimpses of a world
that has been lost and forgotten.