Kebede Mikael is one of the prominent literary figures in the history of Amharicrnliterature. As he is a prolific writer, his works deal with 'arious aspects of the lifernof the society such as love of motherland, education, art and others. He is also onernof the pioneers who attempted to bring to the level of perfection the 6/ 6 metre ofrnAmharic versification.rnThe objective of this research is, therefore, to study the works of this writer andrnplace him and his works in historical perspective: to be specific, it is to examine therntheme and the style and to evaluate his contribution to the development of Ahmaricrnliterature. At the beginning a literature review and a brief biography of the poetplaywrightrnare given in order to find out what research has been done so far andrnto provide some background information to the reader of this thesis.rnIn the first chapter an attempt has been made to categorize and analyze how thernpoet-playwright presents his themes. He deals mainly with the love of one'srnmotherland, religion, art, time, life, death, chance and fate, morality, money, andrneducation. An attempt is also made to show how his up-bringing and his readingrnof classical works influenced his writing and how these are reflected in his creativernworks.The investigation of the style of the se lected poems and plays is what the secondrnchapter consists of. Here the features of Kebede's dramatic monologue are fullyrnelaborated. In the poems singled out for this study he uses the styles that Cicerornidentified as "plain", "middle", and "vigorous". In his versification, particularly in hisrnrhyming, two points stand out clearly. First, his special use of sounds such asrnconsonance and assonance which create special effects to amplify the themes.rnSecond, unlike Thomas L. Kane's observation, the research reveals that Kebede alsornmakes use of the ab ab pattern of rhyming scheme in his poetry.rnThe last chapter presents the overall contribution of Kebede Mikael. Hisrncontribution to Amharic versification, his experimentation in Amharic play-writing,rnas well as his production of teaching materials are all examined and commentedrnupon; followed by the conclusion which summarizes the main findings of thernresearch.