Sad ode composed about a bandit (9)
I believe the answer is:
desperado
'bandit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sad ode composed about a' is the wordplay.
'composed' indicates anagramming the letters.
'about' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'a' becomes 'per' (eg 'one a day' means 'one per day').
'sad'+'ode'='sadode'
'sadode' with letters rearranged gives 'desado'.
'desado' going around 'per' is 'DESPERADO'.
(Other definitions for desperado that I've seen before include "Gangster" , "Reckless person" , "Reckless guy" , "Wild ruffian" , "Reckless criminal" .)