for (1..3) {
    no strict 'refs';
    my $ref = \${'str'.$_}; # this creates a hard reference VIA a symbolic reference
    # or:  my $ref = "str$_";  # this is a purely symbolic reference, access is the same as above
    print "The string is $$ref"; 
}

##</code><code>##

#!/usr/bin/perl -l

use warnings;
use strict;

our $str1 = qq[A-M o'Foo'];
our $str2 = qq[.,rtyu_''];
our $str3 = qq[$<%^];
our $str4 = qq[this works];

my $ref4 = \$str4;

print $$ref4;  # works as expected

for (1..3) {
    no strict 'refs';
    my $ref = \${'str'.$_};
    print "The string is $$ref"; 
}