Last Wednesday I spoke at Liberty University on (among other things) the Greek poetry we find in the New Testament. In the ISV, we actually sought to render these poems as poetry instead of as prose. Often we resorted to rhyme and syllabic stress to do this. But was stress important in the New Testament era? This poem seems to indicate such:
In English:
They say
What they want to.
Let them say it.
Doesn't matter to me.
You love me.
Good for you!
The idea is basically, "Say whatever you like about us. I don't really care." Anyhoo, read the Greek text out loud (be sure to accent the accented syllables) and you'll see (or hear) what I mean about the Greek accents losing their length and gaining stress in its place.
P.S. Here's my Mickey Mouse attempt to render the Greek as English poetry:
Say what they will
Words tossed in the breeze.
Talk to your full
My heart is at ease.
You love me, I hear.
My heart holds you dear!