Starry-eye English rewriting the past (10)
I believe the answer is:
yesteryear
'the past' is the definition.
('yesteryear' can be a synonym of 'past')
'starry-eye english rewriting' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'rewriting' is an anagram indicator.
'starry'+'eye'+'e'='starryeyee'
'starryeyee' anagrammed gives 'YESTERYEAR'.
(Other definitions for yesteryear that I've seen before include "Rossetti's translation questioned whereabouts of its snows!" , "Period 14 [CENTENARIAN] lived through" , "Days of old (poet.)" , "Days gone by" , "Time disappeared" .)