Man, say (or poetically not), portrayed from the outset in strange light (6)
I believe the answer is:
island
'man say' is the definition.
(man is a kind of island)
'in strange light' is the wordplay.
'in strange' becomes 'is' (this could be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'light' becomes 'land' (I've seen this before).
'is'+'land'='ISLAND'
'or poetically not portrayed from the outset' acts as a link.
This may not be right. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for island that I've seen before include "raised area in road" , "Barbados, say" , "Place surrounded by water" , "Land mass not bordering another" , "Rum, for instance" .)