Art engaged for a time in subject of bard's work (7)
I believe the answer is:
tempest
'subject of bard's work' is the definition.
(subject of The Tempest)
'art engaged for a time' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'time' could be 'est' (EST is an example) and 'est' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'temp' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for tempest that I've seen before include "commotion" , "violent agitation" , "Test MEP (anag.)" , "A turbulent storm of wind and rain" , "Big blow" .)