Very excited, reader so expressively starts poem (5)

I believe the answer is:

verse

'poem' is the definition.
(verse is a kind of poem)

'very excited reader so expressively starts' is the wordplay.
'starts' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'very excited reader so expressively' is 'VERSE'.

(Other definitions for verse that I've seen before include "Part of a song or poem" , "Poems" , "Poetry - subdivision of the Bible" , "Metrical text" , "Stanza; poetry" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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