When spring comes, in dire trouble, lose heart (7)
I believe the answer is:
despair
'lose heart' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'when spring comes in dire trouble' is the wordplay.
'when spring' becomes 'spa' (I've seen this before. I am not sure about the 'when' bit.**).
'comes in' indicates putting letters inside.
'trouble' indicates anagramming the letters.
'dire' is an anagram of 'deir'.
'spa' inserted into 'deir' is 'DESPAIR'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for despair that I've seen before include "Misery" , "Give up hope" , "Feeling of hopelessness" , "Lose or lack hope" , "Be without hope" .)