Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?When read aloud such verse naturally follows a beat, alike to that of a human heart beat at rest. In written form it looks like this:
da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum (weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG / weak STRONG)So Marlowe's work would follow the pattern:
Was-this the-face that-launch'd a-thou sand-ships And-burnt the-top less-towers of-Il i-um?There is some debate over whether works such as Shakespeare's and Marlowe's were originally performed with this rhythm prominent, or whether it was disguised by the patterns of normal speech as is common today.