In this poem, the speaker reminisces about the things his father did for him as a child which went largely unnoticed and which he didn't appreciate in those childhood days.

His father rose early in the "blueblack cold." The historical context is important here; a large fireplace was likely the only means of heating the entire house and those fires died down throughout the night. Thus, someone had to build the fire back up in order to warm the house again in the early morning hours.

Before anyone else got out of bed, the speaker's father rose and put enough wood on the fire to get it large and hot enough to heat up the cold house. The speaker would begin to awaken as the fire crackled:

When the rooms were warm, he’d call,

and slowly I would rise and dress