Exiled poet? The sod all but returned (4)
I believe the answer is:
ovid
'exiled poet? the' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'sod all but returned' is the wordplay.
'sod' becomes 'divot' (divot is a kind of sod).
'all but' means to remove the last letter ('all but' can mean 'almost' or 'nearly').
'returned' is a reversal indicator.
'divot' with its last letter removed is 'divo'.
'divo' back-to-front is 'OVID'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for ovid that I've seen before include "Roman poet (Metamorphoses)" , "Writer" , "Classical poet" , "Vi, do read the Latin poet" , "Latin poet (Ars amatoria, Metamorphoses)" .)