Matsuyama Declaration 3. The Heart of Haiku Western poetry is rich and has various styles.
Some poems are very short, but others are very long, several hundred lines in length.
Furthermore, their forms could not be clearly defined because of their huge diversity. Haiku, on the other hand, is a complete and independent poem with just 17 syllables. This was shocking to Western readers. Haiku is not the kind of poetry where logical conclusion is expected to offer the reader a definite poetical answer. In other words, haiku transcends logic.