Multiline echo doesn't work

I've recently installed EasyPHP v12+ on a Windows XP system and am learning PHP with the help of "Learning PHP, MySQL, and Javascript" from O'reilly books, but I've run into a problem almost immediately. Consider the exmple from the book:

<?php
$author = "Alfred E Newman";

echo "This is a headline

This is the first line.
This is the second.
Written by $author.";
?>

It's easy to see what it's supposed to do, but it displays everything on one line. I've tried a similar approach with 'heredoc' syntax:

$text = <<<_END
This is a headline.

This is the first line.
This is the second line.
Written by $author.
_END;

echo $text;

and it still displays everything on one line. Has anyone run into this before?

Hello, you need in the end of every line add <br /> html tag.
Example:
echo "This is a headline <br/>
This is the first line. <br/>
This is the second. <br/>
Written by $author.";