Yearn to associate with poet? (10)
I believe the answer is:
longfellow
'poet?' is the definition.
(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1807-1882)
'yearn to associate' is the wordplay.
'yearn' becomes 'long-' (synonyms).
'to associate' becomes 'fellow' (synonyms).
'long'+'fellow'='LONGFELLOW'
'with' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for longfellow that I've seen before include "American poet, author of 17" , "Hiawatha poet" , "Song of_Hiawatha poet" .)