The most significant difference between "Shika shu" and "Kinyo shu" is that "Kinyo shu" considered the contemporary poets to be important while "Shika shu" treated the poets around the period of Goshui Wakashu (Later Collection of Gleanings of Japanese Poetry) with respect; it is illustrated by the fact that the poets whose poems were selected most were SONE no Yoshitada (17 poems) and Izumi Shikibu (16 poems).
『詞花集』と『金葉集』との違いでもっとも顕著なのは、『金葉集』の近代重視に対し、『詞花集』では、最多入集歌人が曾禰好忠（17首）・和泉式部（16首）であることが示すとおり、中頃（後拾遺和歌集時代）の歌人を重視する方針をとる。