Hoped to rise from despair (7)
I believe the answer is:
aspired
'hoped' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'from despair' is the wordplay.
'from' indicates anagramming the letters (the anagram comes from the same letters).
'despair' with letters rearranged gives 'ASPIRED'.
'to rise' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for aspired that I've seen before include "Aimed" , "Had ambition" , "Had an ambitious plan or lofty goal" , "Was most anxious to" , "Hoped" .)