Official verse writer (4,8)
I believe the answer is:
poet laureate
'official verse writer' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
This is the entire clue.
(Other definitions for poet laureate that I've seen before include "Motion or Duffy, for example" , "Motion, at present" , "such as Tennyson" , "Official versifier" , "Wordsworth, for instance" .)