Come, go we to the king; our power is ready;
Our lack is nothing but our leave; Macbeth
Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above
Put on their instruments. Receive what cheer you may:
The night is long that never finds the day.
– William Shakespeare
Macbeth, Act 4, Scene 3. Malcolm speaks the last lines of the play’s longest scene. The only scene outside Scotland, it takes place before the King’s palace, England. Malcolm tells Macduff that he wants to go back to Scotland and seize the crown from Macbeth. Backed by an army of ten thousand soldiers, Malcolm says that the time is right with God and right on their side – “the powers above put on their instruments.” In the last line, he expresses the hope that the light of day (goodness) will soon put an end to Macbeth’s reign of darkness (evil).