Like hundreds before, he wrote poetry (5)
I believe the answer is:
dante
'he wrote poetry' is the definition.
(Dante was a poet)
'like hundreds before' is the wordplay.
'like hundreds' becomes 'd' (I've seen this in other clues. I am not sure about the 'like' bit.).
'before' becomes 'ante' (prefix meaning 'before').
'd'+'ante'='DANTE'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dante that I've seen before include "La divina commedia poet" , "Net Da a poet" , "Author of the Divine Comedy, d. 1321" , "Poet inspired by Beatrice" , "22 [FT SETTER]" .)