Poetic writer of the letter before (5)
I believe the answer is:
dante
'poetic writer' is the definition.
'Dante' can be an answer for 'writer' (Dante is an example). I'm not certain of the 'poetic' bit.
'letter before' is the wordplay.
'letter' becomes 'd' ().
'before' becomes 'ante' (prefix meaning before).
'd'+'ante'='DANTE'
'of the' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dante that I've seen before include "Italian poet, writer of the Divine Comedy" , "Inferno poet" , "Author of the Divine Comedy, d. 1321" , "Great Italian poet of 'The Divine Comedy'" , "Italian poet, 1265-1321" .)