How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The instinctive act of human-kind was to stand, and listen, and learn how the trees on the right and the trees on the left wailed or chanted to each other in the regular antiphonies of a cathedral choir. (2.4)
As the narrator tells us, it is natural for humans to have a deep sense of connection to the world around them, even though this connection might be lost for many people who live in modern cities.
Quote #2
"'Tis blowed about from pillar to post quite common […] We hear that ye can tell the time as well by the stars as we can by the sun and moon, shepherd." (15.78)
When the workmen on Bathsheba's farm first meet Gabriel Oak, they are very impressed by his ability to tell what time it is by looking at the stars. This ability just goes to show that Oak has a more intimate connection with nature than all of the people around him.
Quote #3
It was that period in the vernal quarter when we may supposed the Dryads to be waking for the season—The vegetable world begins to move and swell and the saps to rise, till in the completest silence of lone gardens and trackless plantations […] there are bustlings, strainings, united thrusts, and pulls-altogether. (18.10)
Thomas Hardy really wants to convey to us a sense of what it's like to be as close to nature as someone like Gabriel Oak. Through his descriptive language, he tries to give us an idea of all the different sounds you might hear if you really, really stop to listen to the sound of the wind blowing through trees and bushes.