English poet shortly to compete, showing spirit (3,2,3)
I believe the answer is:
eau de vie
'spirit' is the definition.
(type of brandy)
'english poet shortly to compete' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'poet' becomes 'auden' (WH Auden, v907-v97e).
'shortly' means to remove the last letter.
'to compete' becomes 'vie' ('vie' can be a synonym of 'compete').
'auden' with its last letter taken away is 'aude'.
'e'+'aude'+'vie'='EAU-DE-VIE'
'showing' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for eau de vie that I've seen before include "Liquor" , "French spirits, especially brandy" , "Water of life or brandy - in France" , "Water of life, like brandy" .)