 Hello dear learner friends, welcome to today's presentation. I am your English teacher Dr. Pallavi Gugoy of Krishna Kanda Handing State Open University, Guwahati. The presentation is titled Francis Bacon of Garden and this is for Be English Learners of Semester 4 and the paper is prose. I would like to begin with a quote by George Bernard Shaw, quote unquote, the best place to find God is in a garden. Another one by Joseph Addison who was a famous essayist, quote unquote, I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries and very frankly give them fruit for their songs. Another one by Cicero, quote unquote, if you have a garden and a library you have everything you need. The content of representation is structured as follows, introduction, learning about the life and works of Francis Bacon, appreciating the essay of Garden, some interesting aspects of the essay, self-check questions, conclusion followed by references. To introduce you to Francis Bacon, Bacon was an English essayist, philosopher, scientist, statesman and jurist. He is considered as one of the significant prose writers of the 17th century and a pioneer of essay or essay writing owing to his significant literary contributions as an essayist. His volumes of essays encompasses important aspects of life and living, philosophy and practicality, information and knowledge. We shall gain a glimpse of his mastery at handling prose in one of his interesting essays titled of Garden. Learning about the life and works of Francis Bacon, one, Bacon's life at a glimpse. Bacon was truly a Renaissance figure in terms of his contributions to various fields, such as literature, philosophy, science, law, politics and diplomatic services. Bacon was born to a noble aristocratic family of England. His mother, Lady Anne Bacon, was an avid reader and very well versed in various literature and languages. She had extensive influence on Bacon's early childhood years. In his early years he was mostly tutored in the comforts of his home and picked up the Latin language. He attended Trinity College, Cambridge, studied law at the University of Poitiers and then joined Grace Inn in 1576. Bacon had a sharp intellect and was greatly influenced by some of the ancient philosophers namely Aristotle, Plato, Socrates and Cicero, whom we had just quoted, which found reflection in most of his reflective writings to a great extent. Young Bacon was also an avid traveler and visited various places like Italy and Spain which had enriched his learning experiences. He had worked for the diplomatic services as a barrister and had a prosperous political career as well. Bacon did not inherit much in terms of his paternal property or wealth following his father's demise and his marriage with Alice Bernholm in 1606 did not last long. However, he had an engaging career and lived a quiet life. Due to severe pneumonia, Bacon had passed away quietly on 9th April 1626 at Highgate, London. 2. Bacon's Works at a Glance or as I have titled it Bacon's Works at a Glance. Bacon's best known work is titled Novum Organum published in Latin in 1620 which had opened up a newer perspective towards the scientific way of acquiring knowledge. In fact, great thinkers of the Renaissance period such as Voltaire and de Deroit considered Bacon as the father of modern science. Bacon's most important work of literary merit is titled Essays. First published in 1597 comprising a total of 10 essays, second publication in 1612 with 38 essays, final compilation in 1625 with 58 essays. Bacon is known to have practice taking notes from book sources, recording interesting observations, proverbs, reflections, quotations, Latin phrases etc. His note-taking method also gave shape to his essays that inquired on multiple aspects of human life. Bacon also drew much inspiration from the famous French essays Michel de Montaigne. He believed in the spirit of new Renaissance humanism and through the spirit of inquiry, he was a skeptic in his intellectual approach. Bacon's empirical or inductive method of knowledge that emphasized the relevance of experience, proof and physical observation led to the development of the scientific method which is also known today as the Baconian method. Through his essays Bacon succeeds at providing a deep insight into his philosophical and moral reflections presented with lively examples and a concise manner. His essays cover interesting aspects of human life and human nature which we can easily relate to and from which we may be inspired to broaden our own perspectives of life and living. Now, can you imagine a world without trees and plants, without greenery, though a world would be a dull and desolate place without nature's bounty, without which we would not survive long? The essay titled of Garden begins on the thought that a garden is a retreat, a refuge for the human soul and also one of the purest of human pleasures in the words of Bacon. Bacon mentions that Almighty God was the first to have begun a garden. He opines that there should be beautiful gardens with plants and season blooms all round the year and goes on to describe a long list of various fruits and ornamental plants that are ideal for the changing seasons in the calendar. For the list of plants and trees he mentions in the essay, he also specifies that they are ideal for the climate of London. Natural air is best perfume with sweet fragrance or quote-unquote breath of flowers which he considers delightful as soft music that creates a pleasant environment. Flyer blooms are always better in the gardens than being plucked by our hands. However, when necessary, plants must also be pruned. Bacon, who prefers a neat and tidy garden, describes the addition of water fountains which adds to the acidic beauty of gardens. There are two types of fountains. He mentions that fountains are carved in marble that spouts or sprinkle waters and there's this other kind that are often embellished or decorated like a basin free of any fish, slime or mud. Sprinking fountains must be cleaned regularly to avoid growth of moss or dicking matter and must have flowing water. Have you ever seen a fountain, seen birds, taking a cool drink or played with its gushing water? It's simply marvellous. Bacon mentions that he prefers a square-shaped garden with a green entrance, alleys that are shaded with a central mount, about 30 foot high, with at least three parts that provides a perfect view of the entire garden and a banquet house for light means. He does not prefer aviaries that houses birds unless they are large, clean, airy and with living plants for birds to nestle and have a little space for themselves. Bacon feels that several of the sweet flowers that go unnoticed and trampled by one's feet like burnered, wild thyme and water mints must find a deserving place in alleys so that one can truly experience the pleasure of this sweet fragrance. Bacon expresses his own personal preferences with regard to a garden of his own that may not be as magnificent as a quote-unquote princely garden but be a little inspired where it concerns garden planning. Now here's some flowers for you. Some interesting aspects of the essay. Bacon wishes to get across the message that regardless of the geographical place to which we belong, all our gardens can bloop in quote-unquote verpe petuum, at least that's how it's spelled, in the words of Virgil or in other words eternal spring throughout the year if we follow the yearly roster of gardening and nurturing plants. The essay of garden provides any reader a literal gardener's almanac that records the best time and climatic conditions plant flowering and ornamental plants, herbs and shrubs, shade giving and fruit-bearing trees. In a nutshell, the message contained in the essay is the importance of cultivating a love for plants that not only makes a delightful hobby but also creates pleasant natural surroundings which in turn become our spaces of joyous retreat. The essay also highlights garden planning or landscaping which enhances one's creativity by encouraging experimentation with seasonal and evergreen plants which we may adopt based on our general climate and geographical location. The essay encourages readers to be budding gardeners too as it describes how one can mix and match flowering plants while also taking into account the importance of sunlight, air, rain and water while planting a garden. Thus, one of the major themes emerging in the essay is gardening as an enriching experience. After reading the essay, we shall be acquainted with Bacon's crisp and conversational style of writing which certainly makes us reflective essays pretty friendly. His essays are replete with aphorisms which is journal truth of principles, moral truisms and practical sessions on various aspects of human nature and philosophy, human virtues and vices, state and society, reality and best practices. According to Bacon, the English and French were well known to have cultivated the art of geometrical garden landscaping. Some of the most beautiful French venus gardens at that time were, and these are really difficult to spell, Chateaudee, Umbroy, Chateaudee, Fontainebleu, Chateaudee, Villindry, Tuileries Garden or Lyxemberg Gardens among others. Closer home in India, the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden Chandigarh is one of the largest rose gardens in Asia that not only houses a variety of roses, almost 1,600 species but also medicinal gardens. Another one is the Tulip Garden Srinagar that has various varieties of tulips. Of course, Bacon does not mention these. These are just for your additional information. The beautiful Mughal Gardens in Delhi, Shalimar Bagh in Kashmir, Brindavan Gardens in Mysore, Hanging Gardens in Mumbai, among several others are some of the most spectacular gardens to visit in India. You'll be interested to know that we also have protected spaces where orchids are cultivated like the Cessar Orchid Sanctuary and Orchid Research Centers at D.P. in Arunachal Pradesh or the Deer Ali Orchid Sanctuary in Sikkim. These are some exotic plants and it's worth trying to save them. Now commit yourselves, check questions. Question one, who was Francis Bacon? Question two, what were some of the significant literary contributions of Francis Bacon? Question three, what is the essay title of Garden by Francis Bacon all about? Question four, what are some of the significant aspects of the essay of Garden? Question five, which French gardens were considered some of the world's best renters or gardens of the world? Question number six, what are some of the additional observations related to the text of the essay of Garden? With this we come to the end of the presentation. Here are the references. You can refer to self-learning material of BA English semester four, which is also available as ESLM. And I hope you have enjoyed the photographs that I have put in for your delight. Thank you for your patient listening and I hope that you do very well and wish you all the best. Thank you, dear learner friends.