Poem 5, "The Man in the Marmalade Hat Arrives" Summary

This is another poem in the realm of high nonsense. A man with a marmalade hat, illustrated with big blobs of red marmalade circling the brim of a top hat in the drawing, arrives at the inn. He is said to arrive in the middle of March, reminiscent of the mad March Hare in Alice in Wonderland. He brings along a bottle of starch to straighten the bends in the road, and one can see by the expression on his face in the illustration that he's crazy enough to believe it. He also carries along a bucket and a mop, both awkward to carry. He must be tired, but he requests a room at the top of the inn.

Then comes the refrain, a celebratory verse asking...