PHP multiline string with PHP

You don’t need to output php tags:

<?php 
    if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) 
    {
        echo '<div class="gridly-image"><a href="'. the_permalink() .'">'. the_post_thumbnail('summary-image', array('class' => 'overlay', 'title'=> the_title('Read Article ',' now',false) )) .'</a></div>';
    }

    echo '<div class="date">
              <span class="day">'. the_time('d') .'</span>
              <div class="holder">
                <span class="month">'. the_time('M') .'</span>
                <span class="year">'. the_time('Y') .'</span>
              </div>
          </div>';
?>