Died before becoming a poet (5)
I believe the answer is:
dante
'a poet' is the definition.
(13th- and 14th-century Italian poet)
'died before' is the wordplay.
'died' becomes 'd' (abbreviation next to the year of someone's death).
'before' becomes 'ante' (I've seen this before).
'd'+'ante'='DANTE'
'becoming' is the link.
(Other definitions for dante that I've seen before include "Finally stand before" , "Italian poet, 1265-1321" , "Author of the Divine Comedy, d. 1321" , "Thirteenth to fourteenth century Italian poet" , "Net Da a poet" .)