You gain a prospect two fields distance.
And now from Hyde Park Corner come
The gods of Athens and of Rome:
Here squabby Cupids take their places,
With Venus and the clumsy graces;
Apollo there, with aim so clever,
Stretches his leaden bow for ever.”
Even Cowper saw little but absurdity in the demand for villas and “summer-houses.”
“Suburban villas, highway-side retreats,
That dread th’ encroachment of our growing streets,