Left gold for respected poet (8)
I believe the answer is:
laureate
'respected poet' is the definition.
(as in a Poet Laureate)
'left gold' is the wordplay.
'left' becomes 'L' (common abbreviation).
'gold' becomes 'aureate' (synonyms).
'l'+'aureate'='LAUREATE'
'for' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for laureate that I've seen before include "National poet" , "Acclaimed pacifist" , "Honoured by a distinction" , "Honoured poet" , "One given an award" .)