Greater emotional intensity does not make every poem better for every purpose. A restrained maxim may suit sober counsel; a heightened image may suit emphatic literary speech.
The later poem need not erase every virtue of the earlier one. It can deserve praise by adding a particular rhetorical excellence. Bashshār's contrast is meaningful in its own right, while Sallām's version can be preferred for the directness of its treatment.
Judgments of greater eloquence therefore remain tied to the intended purpose and expressive context.