Poet in dreary study (6)
I believe the answer is:
dryden
'poet' is the definition.
(John Dryden)
'dreary study' is the wordplay.
'dreary' becomes 'dry' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'study' becomes 'den' (term for a study or office).
'dry'+'den'='DRYDEN'
'in' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dryden that I've seen before include "17th century English poet and dramatist" , "Poet laureate, 1668-1689" , "Amphitryon was his" , "John --, first Poet Laureate" , "Restoration author" .)