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The latter.

Thanks Lumen, I'm sorted, are you ?

I used felipedon's method @30 to find the five-letter collective noun. Didn't take long to find it. I looked at the "Wise old Greek bird" solution to start with but the preamble stipulated an actual word with consecutive letters, but didn't have long to wait to find the offending article!

Dfg, no! Can't see it. Driving me mad. Is it all within 14d entry or longer?
Is the poet contemporary with the dedicatee or later?

The poet came hundreds of years after the dedicatee.
PS All of 14 D gets used - the changes leave real words.

Lumen, back from tea/brain rest.
14D, all 7, alter 3&6.
Never heard of him, so cannot comment.

That was so hard. But thanks both.
Never heard of that poet. He has ONE quote in my ODQ, and it's not that one!
I managed to work out the thematics without the quote.
Then reverse engineered to solve the quote. Having five letters in it from thematic clues seems a bit unfair too.

Thanks, Lumen - and glad you got there. The quote is in my ODQ (mine's the 7th ed), along with five others.

A belated thanks to Quisling for your help and patience. I had considered the appropriate word, but blinded myself by looking for something more complex. 🙄
I've finally purchased the ODQ e-book, 8th ed. Now I probably won't need it for the next 20 crosswords.

Very much losing my mind here. Any hints on the following clues would be much appreciated -

13a - CRAFT GENT GETTING 50% OFF

41a - PERHAPS SITTER STAYS FULFILLED

4D - TARGET BRIEFLY FAILED TO PASS CAMBRIDGE EXAM

44A has given me a hint at what the treatment is but I can't find a way to cram anything into 1D that'll fit and not make 13A nonsense. Samesies with 5A. Help please!!