you are right on wrecked ship, but you could see that

 I intentionally tried to rhyme, so here is the improved version:

 

Thousands of sailboats have passed by the wrecked ship

and just like before a dying tree , tens of thousands other are flourish       到底要直译还是要意译？

 

Althought 病树前头万木春---病树--枯萎的树木。 诗人

感叹自己屡遭贬谪、老病侵袭，以致无所作为    

Dying also means withering:

My Tomato Plants Are Withering & the Lower Leaves Are Dying. If the lower leaves on your tomato plants are dying, it's likely that your plant is suffering from wilt...

所有跟帖： 

• 感觉无论中文还是英语，一般“枯萎”都与“快死掉 ”联系一起。blighted tree 患了枯萎病，疫病 -sportwoman- ♀ (2841 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 07:02:02

• 在下愚见翻译诗时候得给读者想象的空间。至于树是否得枯萎病不重要，重要是让读者领略那种景象： -sportwoman- ♀ (516 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 08:01:26

• 要先掌握诗人的情感思想，然后遣词造句要紧跟密随诗人的思路。是这样吗？ -sportwoman- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 08:33:24

• yes. don't put in your own feeling or explanation. -海外逸士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 14:35:53

• 原文是說病樹﹐沒說枯樹。 -海外逸士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 14:34:54

• blight--使凋萎. 病树=凋萎的树，不是枯萎？ 好像都行啊 -sportwoman- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 15:01:04

• 學英文別專門靠字典。他們就是這麼用的。 -海外逸士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 14:33:44

• 病樹可醫。所以英文裡用blighted -海外逸士- ♂ (0 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 14:32:16

• I see.病树可以医，可朽木不可雕，譬如我，是这样吗？ -sportwoman- ♀ (0 bytes) () 08/21/2012 postreply 17:33:04