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In the brief prologue to Tamburlaine, Marlowe not only clearly announced the character of that play, but hinted at the programme which he proposed to Carry out in the further. Here is that prologue....
From jigging veins of rhyming mother wits
And such conceits as clown age keeps in pay,
We'll lead you to the stately tents of war
Where you shall hear the Scythian Tamburlaine
Threatening the world with high astounding terms
And scourging kingdoms with his conquering sword.
The phrase "jigging veins of rhyming mother wits" mocks at the use of rhyme and awkward tumbling lines of fourteen syllables, which were customary with the popular playwrights of the time. For these "jigging veins" Marlowe proposed to substitute blank verse which was not yet fully established. Marlowe was able to recognise the value of blank verse for dramatic poetry. His use of the blank verse astonished his contemporaries and his success with it established it firmly as the medium of serious drama of the future. Jonson referred to Marlowe's blank verse as the "might line". Marlowe's satirical reference to "such conceits as clown age keeps in pay"
showed his determination not to stoop to vulgar comedy and horseplay but to treat an elevated theme with seriousness and dignity. "The stately tents of war" suggested the diginity and largeness of the scope of his work. The last three lines quoted above indicated his plan of giving unity to his dramas by making them revolve around some single great personality, engaged in some great struggle for power and of treating this struggle with rhetorical splendor.